2020-03-31
8 分钟Hi there.
This is Harry, and welcome back to the podcast where we try to help you with your understanding of the english language with idioms, expressions, and other ways in which you can improve your spoken English.
So when you speak, you not absolutely speak like a native, but you make yourself more understood.
You can enjoy it more and not feel any way sensitive or a little bit scared about how you can join in different conversations.
So what do we have for you this time?
Well, following on from the theme of office talk and how to get things done, or how to change people's attitude and behavior, I thought we would take a look at the ways in which we perhaps can be polite and also diplomatic.
So, as I said previously, when we want to be polite or diplomatic, or when we want to try and get somebody to change their habits, often the best way to do that is to be somewhat indirect.
So if we're direct, people see it as an attack on them.
You shouldn't do this.
You did this, you made a mistake.
So when we use that word, you, it really focus the attention on the person that you're talking to.
And their immediate reaction is to withdraw into their shell to become a little bit defensive.
And then you've got a you and them situation.
And that makes things very difficult.
It makes the atmosphere very difficult.
And of course, you don't achieve what you wanted to achieve.
And as we say in English, you're back to square one.
You're back to the beginning.
So how can you change that?
Well, we can use words that we would refer to as softeners.