Business English Meetings: Reading between the Lines

In this article, you will

• learn about indirect language and the problems it can cause
• learn some techniques for reading between the lines and avoiding misunderstandings
• learn about the difference between “the least interesting” and “the most boring.”

Newsmart Level 2 (A2/B1, TOEIC 171–388, TOEFL iBT 30–40, IELTS 4)

Published: on 1 April 2016

Amy and Brian had a business meeting. They both spoke their first language, English, and they understood every word that the other person said. But at the end of the meeting, each of them had a totally different understanding of what they’d agreed. Amy thought Brian had agreed to her proposal. Brian thought he’d said “no” very clearly. So what went wrong?

Amy is American. She likes to say exactly what she thinks, and she expects other people to do the same. But Brian is British, and, like many British people, he tries to avoid sounding negative. He expects other people to read between the lines to understand his real meaning.

When Amy presented her proposal at the meeting, Brian listened carefully and politely, saying “OK,” “Right,” and “I see” many times. At the end of Amy’s presentation, Brian said, “Well, that’s a really interesting proposal. Thanks for sharing that with me. I’m just not sure how effective it will be. I’d say it still needs a little more work. But it’s great that you’re so creative and you have so many ideas, so please keep doing that. I’ll definitely give your proposal some thought and I’ll let you know.”

Amy came out of the meeting with a big smile on her face. She told all her coworkers that Brian loved her idea. Then she waited for Brian to contact her … and she waited and waited. After two weeks, she phoned Brian to check the progress on her idea. Brian sounded confused. “No, I think you misunderstood. I’m afraid I didn’t like your idea at all,” he explained.

Let’s look back at what Brian said and what he really meant.

“OK” / “Right” / “I see.”

These phrases simply show that Brian is listening and that he understands. They don’t mean that he’s agreeing.

“Well, that’s a really interesting proposal.”

Brian is careful to avoid a positive adjective like “good” or “excellent.” For Brian, “interesting” is one of the least positive words he can use. He’s saying he doesn’t like Amy’s idea at all.

“Thanks for sharing that with me.”

Here, Brian is trying to make Amy feel better after his “interesting” comment. He’s being positive about what Amy did, not about her idea itself.

“I’m just not sure how effective it will be.”

For Brian, this sounds clearly negative. He’s questioning the effectiveness of Amy’s idea. And by using a negative expression (“I’m just not sure”), he’s saying that he thinks her idea won’t work.

“I’d say it still needs a little more work.”

“A little” here doesn’t really mean a little. Brian often uses words like “a little” and “just” to be polite, and he expects Amy to know that. He thinks that Amy needs to work on her proposal because it’s not good enough yet.

“But it’s great that you’re so creative you have so many ideas, so please keep doing that.”

Again, Brian’s trying to be positive about Amy as a person while being negative about her idea. He likes her creativity, so he’s telling her to go away and think of a better idea.

“I’ll definitely give your proposal some thought and I’ll let you know.”

This is Brian’s way of closing down the conversation. He doesn’t want to discuss the idea with Amy any more. He might email her later to confirm that he doesn’t like the idea, but he thinks he probably doesn’t need to — he’s sure he made his opinion perfectly clear already.

Of course, most British people aren’t as indirect as Brian. And most Americans are better than Amy at reading between the lines! But situations like these really do happen. And when two people take different meanings from the same conversation, it can cause very serious problems later.

So how can we avoid situations like this? First of all, use questions to check your understanding: “So when you say it’s an interesting idea, are you saying you like it, or are you just being polite?” “What exactly do you mean by ‘a little more work’? Do I need to start again?”

And secondly, be very careful with indirect language, especially when you’re working with people from other cultures. Don’t expect other people to read between the lines. Sometimes, that means forcing yourself to say “no,” even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. “So just to make sure, that’s a ‘no’. We’re not going to do that. Is that clear?”

Photo credit: Carl Court for Getty

Originally published at www.getnewsmart.com.