In what situations is it important to avoid giving out too much information?
- Financial condition, bottom price,
Have you ever tried to avoid answering questions?What did you say?
Which of your classmates do you think was most effective at avoiding questions?
- You can't table
Did you use any of these phrases to avoid answering questions?
- I really can't say anything about that.
- I'm afraid that's beyond my knowledge.
- I can't really go into that at the moment.
- I'm sorry, I can't tell you now, but I will email you later.
Can you think of more ways to express this?
Look at the phrases below. How can you say the same thing, but more politely?
- I can't tell you. → I really can't say anything about that.
- That's a secret. → I'm afraid that's confidential information
- I don't know. → I'm afraid that's beyond my knowledge.
- I really can't give out that information at the moment, because this is our company institutions.
Which of these phrases do you think is the most effective?
Final task: You are announcing a future smart phone model at a trade fair. Answer questions without giving away too much information.
- When is the new model going to be available?
- I really can't give out that information at the moment, because this is our company institutions.
- What's the phone's bottom price?
- Could you tell me the phone's bottom price?
- technical information
- Could you tell me the technical information detail about the phone. It's that how do your company produce the phone?
- I think this phone is very very good?
- Could you tell me how can I use this phone?
Summary
Today we ...
- discussed some things that we can and cannot talk about with our clients.
- used polite phrases to avoid a client's questions.
Before you go ...
- Have you ever tried to get information from someone who didn't want to give it? How did they avoid your questions?
- In what other situations might you need to avoid uncomfortable questions?
Target language
Function: withholding information
- I really can’t say anything about that;
- That’s something I can’t really talk about;
- I can’t really go into that at the moment;
- I’m afraid that’s all I can say;
- I’m not in a position to give out that information;
- I’m not at liberty to say
