商務禮節美語第141期:不言而喻的消息

Unspoken Messages

不言而喻的消息

陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。他跟美國同事Amy一起走出會議室。

(Office ambience)

C:Amy, 今天我第一次主持會議。你覺得怎麼樣？

A:I thought you did well considering that you have not been in that position before.

C:可我自己覺得挺糟糕的。雖然來開會的人並沒說什麼，但是我能感覺到，有好幾個人並不欣賞我的報告，或者是根本不感興趣。

A:What made you think that? Anyone in particular?

C:比如說吧，會開到一半的時候，Ken把筆記本一合，雙手抱臂，往椅子上一仰。

A:How did you feel when he did that?

C:我立刻很緊張，覺得他認爲我的發言很糟糕。

A:I noticed that, too. In fact it was pretty obvious to everyone.

C:你覺得他是故意這樣做的嗎？

A:Knowing Ken, I would say yes and I would add that he wanted to make sure you got the message.

C:如果他對我有什麼意見，我寧可他告訴我。

A:What he did was use his body to send his message. It's a discourteous tactic that many people use in business to express their feelings without putting them in words.

C:你是說在商業界很多人都會用這種方式表達自己的看法，而不是直接把意見說出來，那又是爲什麼呢？

A:Sometimes people feel safer using body language to intimidate or humiliate others.

C:他們爲什麼會覺得用肢體語言去羞辱別人更安全呢？

A:I am sorry, Chen Hao. Can we continue this later? I need to meet my boss in five minutes.

C:那你先忙。我們一會兒見。

當天下午陳豪和Amy一起喝咖啡。

C:Amy, 你上午說有人更願意用肢體語言表達自己的看法。這是爲什麼呢？

A:People can always refute or deny the meaning of their body language.

C:噢，如果有人事後指責他們表現消極，他們可以矢口否認，說這是誤會。那所有人都是有意這樣做的嗎？

A:A lot of people aren't even aware of their body language. I think that it is often unintentional.

C:很多人都是無意的？你能舉個例子嗎？

A:Like Sue. Did you notice that she came to our meeting for the first time today?

C:我注意到了，Sue是第一次來參加會議，但是她坐在後面的角落裏，從頭到尾一言不發。

A:I think she felt left out.

C:你爲什麼說Sue覺得自己被忽視了呢？

A:Because the two people closest to her kept moving their chairs with their backs turned more and more to her. I don't think it was intentional—they were just trying to see and hear better.

C:Sue 一定是誤會了，覺得別人不歡迎她。

A:That's right. So she withdrew as well.