BEP 35c – English Meetings: Clarifying What Was Meant
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May 12, 2024
Learn how to clarify in English meetings to avoid misunderstandings. Explore techniques for confirming understanding and navigating indirect speech. Listen to a dialogue about a disappointing product launch and financial struggles, highlighting the importance of clear communication in business decisions.
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Indirect Speech Causes Misunderstandings
People often speak indirectly, so listeners must actively clarify ambiguous statements to avoid misunderstandings.
Asking direct questions like "What are you getting at?" helps reveal the speaker's true meaning quickly.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Confirm By Restating And Checking
Confirm your interpretation by restating the idea and asking a check question like "Is that right?".
Use phrases such as "So in other words..." to test your understanding before acting.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Ask About Ambiguous Words Directly
When a specific word is ambiguous, ask "What exactly do you mean by [word]?" to narrow possible interpretations.
Offer a concrete example (e.g., "Do you mean redundancies?") to test that meaning.
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Welcome back to Business English Pod for today’s lesson on clarifying in English meetings. Previously we looked at how to clarify what was said when you didn’t hear properly. Today we’re going to look at how to clarify what someone means in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Life would be simple if everyone said what they meant clearly and directly. But that’s not the way things work. People often speak indirectly or use words that are a bit confusing. For this reason, we often need to clarify what people mean.
There are several ways to do this. You can tell someone you don’t understand. Or you might confirm an idea or restate what someone says if you think you might understand. And it may take some time to work out the general meaning or the meaning of a specific word.
Today we’ll listen to a meeting between Michael, Rachel, and Ryan. Michael is leading the meeting and talking about the disappointing launch of a new product. During the conversation, it’s not always clear what people mean. For this reason, they use several different expressions for clarifying what was meant.
Listening Questions
1. What expression does Michael use about the “numbers” that Ryan tries to clarify?
2. What does Ryan ask about that Michael wants to clarify?
3. What word does Michael use that Rachel asks about near the end of the conversation?
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