You can't write "send it a.s.a.p" to an American!

Some curious material we got in an American-Israeli intercultural workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to improve the business correspondence between us and the Americans, and to make us look more ... ahemmm ... civilized :)

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FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE
Effective communication is partly a matter of knowing certain special expressions. Some of the ways we change the basic message, can however be generalized.

Below are some examples of how to "soften" your communication.

1. Using would, could or might to make what you say more tentative
   
   • “That is unacceptable” - “That would be unacceptable”


2. Presenting your view as a question rather than a statement.
   
   • “That is too late” - “Isn’t that too late?”

( Read more... )




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FUNCTIONAL EXPRESSIONS

How to …

Opinions
Asking for an opinion

• What’s your opinion of …?
• What’s your position on …?
• What do you think of …?
• I’d like to hear your views on …


( Read more... )




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And remember - whenever you want to convey an unpleasant message, wrap it into something positive from both sides ;-)