Making points without making holes

When pushed to extremes though, it can lead to some real cultural and subsequently linguistic misunderstandings, since it may be interpreted as hard-headed or aggressive. In my case, I was speaking Czech but thinking like an English speaker. And many English speakers tend to phrase even the strongest requests, objections, opinions as conditionals. It helps keep negotiations from taking a hard line too early and maintain a level of politeness. If they are used too much, however, they can make the listener think you are being too wordy, evasive or that you’re just simply unsure of yourself. The idea is to strike a balance. The main thing is to carry out talks in a positive, helpful tone. Remember that just adding “would” may not create the open exchange if the intent of the sentence is essentially critical or even hostile. Try this exercise and see if it can help you “put your point across”, without making a big hole in your negotiations.