Balancing Politeness and Power

Most Japanese students focus on what English words and phrases should be spoken in international business.

But I think students should also focus on how they speak.

This is because speaking too strongly may create a difficult working atmosphere or even damage relationships.

But speaking too weakly may lead listeners to assume a student does not have a clear opinion. 

Similarly, speaking too politely may suggest the student feels hesitant about their position.

And speaking too casually may make listeners think a student does not care about the topic sufficiently.

Speaking a foreign language in a meeting is a little like walking a circus tightrope: there is a risk of falling off.

According to the topic and who our listeners are, in real time we have to balance just enough politeness with just enough power.  

But Japanese speakers know this in Japanese. For example, when disagreeing with a new boss they would probably speak very politely and very weakly (ひょっとすると。。。かもしれ ません) but with a boss they knew well, they might speak less politely and more strongly (でも　こっちの方はどうですか).

They can do this because they know all of the Japanese polite and power phrases relative to each other. This makes their language ability flexible to each situation.

So, in Business English, Japanese students need to study how to balance the relative powers of polite requests, refusals and apologies with the relative powers of agreements, disagreements, opinions and suggestions. 

Once students can apply this balancing act flexibly, they can speak appropriately and confidently with anyone in international business.