{"id":8985,"date":"2014-07-30T11:53:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-30T09:53:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/?p=8985"},"modified":"2018-06-06T12:29:35","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T10:29:35","slug":"british-handle-difficult-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.targettraining.eu\/de\/british-handle-difficult-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"How the British handle difficult questions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-1z2pex-1e8ba965125e32c1462e759a3e99bb32\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-1z2pex-1e8ba965125e32c1462e759a3e99bb32{\nheight:20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-1z2pex-1e8ba965125e32c1462e759a3e99bb32 hr-invisible  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><span class='hr-inner '><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong>In every culture, there are questions and topics that are taboo. They are considered too personal or indiscreet, and people feel embarrassed or even offended when asked about them. Handling difficult questions about taboo subjects can be really tricky and each culture deals with them differently. Not all cultures have the same taboos. When making small talk, an international colleague might innocently ask you about your salary, family, health or age without realising that these questions could make you feel uncomfortable. How do you deal with these difficult questions without further embarrassment? What do you say to make sure your colleague doesn&#8217;t lose face?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>How the Brits do it<\/h3>\n<p>There are 3 main strategies that the British use when it comes to handling difficult questions. They use these strategies so they can prevent negative consequences like socially awkward situations and damaged business relationships. By using these phrases and strategies the British can avoid difficult questions rather than feeling embarrassed by talking about a topic that makes them feel uncomfortable. What\u2019s more, they can do it in a way that doesn\u2019t offend the person who showed interest in them by asking the question.<\/p>\n<h3>Strategy 1: Try to gain time to think about how to respond<\/h3>\n<h4><strong>Phrases:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Let me think\u2026<\/li>\n<li>That\u2019s an interesting \/ difficult question.<\/li>\n<li>Can we talk about that another time \/ later?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Strategy 2: Try to change the subject<\/h3>\n<h4><strong>\u00a0Phrases:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Look at the time \u2013 I don\u2019t want to be late for my meeting \/ lunch \/ train.<\/li>\n<li>Actually I\u2019d like to ask you a question about (<em>something completely different<\/em>) if you don\u2019t mind\u2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u00a0Strategy 3: Try to gently show that I\u2019m uncomfortable with the question<\/h3>\n<h4><strong>\u00a0Phrases:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>I don\u2019t really know how to answer that.<\/li>\n<li>I\u2019m afraid it\u2019s a long story.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Are you looking for cultural insights?<\/h3>\n<p>During the next few months, we&#8217;ll be publishing more articles on doing business in different countries. Do you have specific questions about how to deal with international colleagues or partners? Or, have you gained cultural insights through your work in different countries? Use the comments box below to let us know your thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Click for more information about our <a href=\"\/?page_id=3260\">intercultural seminars<\/a> or the <a title=\"Intercultural Awareness Profiler (IAP)\" href=\"\/?page_id=4525\">IAP<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In every culture, there are questions and topics that are taboo. They are considered too personal or indiscreet, and people feel embarrassed or even offended when asked about them. Handling difficult questions about taboo subjects can be really tricky and each culture deals with them differently. Not all cultures have the same taboos. When making [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":7860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-8985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-intercultural-2","tag-intercultural"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How the British handle difficult questions | Target Training GmbH<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Not all cultures have the same taboos. 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