This is the Business English Podcast episode 319.
Don't send the wrong message with business meeting vocabulary.
Welcome to the Business English Podcast from All Ears English.
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For a presentation, a meeting or your office party, this is Real Business English with your favorite American host, Lindsay Ann Aubrey, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
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Hey Aubrey, what's shaking?
I'm great, how are you today?
Really good, doing great today.
What's going on? What are we getting into today, in today's episode?
We're talking about meetings, some vocabulary and phrases that we use.
We got a great question about a phrase that might be used to interrupt.
Have you ever had to interrupt someone in a meeting, Lindsay, that was talking longer than they should have been?
Yeah, for sure. I think recently I had a conversation online where, yeah, I needed to interrupt and it feels awkward starting to talk over someone and it's not my personality to do that because it feels rude, but sometimes it just has to be done.
It's interesting and you guys probably hear this on the podcast, this is one of my weaknesses that I often jump in and start with the next thing and I do this to you a lot, I've noticed.
I don't really notice.
I'm cutting you off, interrupting.
It's very American to do this, where we're cutting each other off and I'm probably really terrible about it.
Well, it doesn't really bother me.
We're showing our listeners the true real English, as real as it gets it.
With you and me, it doesn't bother me.
I think we have a nice rapport already.
I actually don't notice it, to be honest.
That's really good news, because sometimes I'm working on transcripts or writing quizzes and I'll listen back.
I'm like, oh, I keep cutting her off, stop.
Oh, okay. Yeah, it would be interesting to hear from our listeners.
It's just the way I hear that.
No, yeah. But it's actually very American too, right?
It's very American.
It's very typical of our culture.
It's more for me when I don't have a rapport or good rapport with someone or I don't know them where it's a little stickier and I struggle with it more when someone does that.
You know? I can see that.
Yeah, for sure. Today, we got this really good question about a phrase that we might use to do this to interrupt.
Can you read this question for us, Lindsay?
Yeah, here we go. Our listener says, so the whole question, you want me to read the whole thing?
Okay, here we go. Dear Lindsay, hope all is well.
Does the phrase in the interest of expediency have a positive or a negative connotation?
There is a profound argument pertaining to its connotation between what dictionaries are hinting at, which is a negative connotation versus what some natives online are saying that it has no negative connotation, but it has an efficient and prompt meaning.
Ooh, there's going to be a cultural layer to this episode.
I think so too, yeah.
I guess we have to confer with the experts here.
Appreciate your help as usual.
Also can you help place this idiom in the right context behind the 8 Ball?
Best regards, Marwa Kafaga.
Wow. Nice, thank you Marwa for an amazing question.
The very end here asking about behind the 8 Ball, another listener, Fabiana, recently asked about this idiom and we did an episode about it, so stay into the end and we'll share details so that you can go back and check that one out.
And today we're answering this first part about in the interest of expediency, which sounds very professional and formal, right Lindsay?
Ah, yes it does. And yeah, I'm excited to talk about this.
It also lends itself to the values of a culture, if it's being used or if it's being used successfully, if it's going over okay, how much does that culture value fast paced movement?
Absolutely. Save the con.
And it depends on the context, whether this might have a negative connotation or be offensive.
So we really use it two different ways in business English in the States.
We're going to dive into both, but I think you're very right, Lindsay, that it will depend a lot on the culture.
It would be different, I think, in England and New Zealand and Australia.
It depends on how much you value time savings.
And even then you do need to be careful because you can send the wrong message or offend or make someone feel criticized depending on how you use this phrase.
Right. Or, for example, if you know, English is the language of international business.
So our listeners very well could be doing business with someone from a place like South America where there isn't quite as much emphasis on time.
It's more about relationships, right?
Broadly speaking, very broadly speaking.
And we could make a mistake of using this where it just doesn't resonate or it even offends maybe.
Yeah. This is really interesting.
So let's dive into this.
The first way we use this is generally to talk about saving time.
And in this case, there is no negative connotation because you're not talking about a person.
Like for example, you might say, in the interest of expediency, let's skip the next agenda item.
And this is just general.
We're just saying, yeah, we need to save time.
There's no implied criticism of someone here.
Oh, yeah. No, that's not rude because you're not specifically talking about anyone.
So I like that. So no problem there.
Or here's another example.
We only have five minutes.
In the interest of expediency, let's skip the Q &A.
And it's interesting to think about this is quite formal.
So it's perfect for business meetings, presentations, interviews, where you are using sort of up leveled English.
But in daily conversations, there are other ways to say this that we would use instead, maybe in order to save time or in order to be efficient.
In order to make the most of our time, we might say something like that.
Those are also appropriate for business meetings.
But because in the interest of expediency is long, it takes a little while to say and feels quite formal.
Formal. How do we observe this for the most formal situations?
Well I think it sounds formal.
I also think it sounds impersonal.
So I would use this once in a while in those very formal situations.
Rarely. Like you said, I really like the phrase to maximize our time.
Do I like my time? Yeah.
And then I also want to ask you, would you say this after?
As I'm coming up with these examples, it feels to me like we have to use it before.
In the interest of expediency, let's do this.
Would you say like let's skip the Q &A in the interest of expediency.
I feel strange. Yeah.
I think grammatically you can get away with it.
Oh yeah. Grammatically incorrect.
I think we just don't use it this way as much.
Maybe because with sort of like what are you thinking about first?
You're first thinking like okay we got to save time.
So you're saying first and then you're saying what you're doing in order to save time.
Sure. Yeah. I think if it were in pre -prepared remarks or something, but usually this is more going to be created on the spot spontaneously because things are taking too long.
So if you say, let's get to the Q &A, let's get to it or let's skip the Q &A, let's get to the next thing.
You don't necessarily have the time to say in the interest of expediency because you're trying to expedite things.
Right. Now all of these phrase we use often in the United States in business English because we are thinking a lot about saving time.
Which I think is the other reason that we don't use this phrase as often.
Not that there's a negative connotation here, but that it takes longer to say.
You're like making everyone else sit and listen to you say in the interest of expediency.
There's really no way to shorten it and make it quicker.
So that's often the other reason I think that we don't use it very often.
And this is cultural too.
There's a lot in, we're going to have to do some episodes on this concept of talking too much, long self introductions, for example.
Being a very cultural thing that are accepted in other cultures, whereas an American business culture, not as much.
Really getting to the action piece, the decision making, the creativity is highly valued in American business culture.
Longer speeches, longer for no purpose, not valued here.
Yes, absolutely. Right.
Everyone is busy. Every meeting, we're trying to make it as quickly, quick as possible.
Often we can send an email instead of meeting because we are thinking a lot about trying to save time and be more efficient in US business culture.
It's fascinating. And yeah, we're going to get into that topic a little bit this year.
I am excited to talk about that because there's so such a cultural layer there.
But let's come back to expediency.
So what else do we need to know here, Aubrey?
Yeah, so that's the main one that has no negative connotation.
There's no this, we're just talking about saving time.
So though this is more valued in some cultures than others, there's no negative judgment here.
We're going to talk about a second time when this can imply criticism and could offend someone.
Okay, we're going to take a quick break first, right Aubrey?
And we'll come back and get into that.
Here we go. Sounds good.
All right, Aubrey, now.
So our listener asked, can it be offensive?
Right? So yes, in this case, this next situation we're going to talk about.
What exactly? It could be used to interrupt someone.
And if so, it would imply criticism or could definitely be interpreted that way.
If you say, for example, sorry to cut you off, but in the interest of expediency, let's move on.
Now this sounds very polite, really.
Like you're trying to let someone know, like we just need to move on.
And we're thinking about time saving, but depending on the person you're working with, you have to realize always how that's going to sound to them.
And it almost feels more harsh because you're being more formal.
What do you think, Lindsay?
I totally agree. Well, yeah, that's a good point too, the fact that it could feel more harsh, more informal, more dismissive.
I think it feels like you're just saying, okay, we have to move on.
And I've decided that what you're going to say is not important enough.
Right? I wonder if I just thought of this, but I wonder if what feels so harsh about it is like, I have the time to say in the interest of expediency, let's move on, but I'm cutting off what you're saying.
It seems like I value that phrase more than your message.
Yeah, I think if we're in a leadership position or if we're just leading that meeting or making this statement, we have to say it differently.
We really have to say it differently.
And there are better things that we could say in this case because it does feel dismissive.
So what could we say, Aubrey?
Yeah, I think you could just say, sorry to cut you off, but we're running short on time because I think cutting out that in the interest of expediency, you're showing that we really are short on time, like we need to rush.
And so it's not that your message isn't important, it's not that I'm telling you that you're just taking too long saying that.
The message really is we're running short on time.
That's the reason to move on and not to devalue your message.
I also think there's something else you could do here.
When you do deliver this, you've decided, you're leading the meeting, you see how much time is left, you see how much you have to get through.
You say, sorry to cut you off, but we're running short on time.
Could you follow up with me by email so I can hear your ideas?
That's a great idea.
I love that because then you're letting them know your message does matter.
I really want to hear what you've prepared, what needs to be said, but we just don't have the time here.
It's such a human need to be heard.
Oh my gosh, if we can come back to these basic human needs connection, being heard, being respected, it's huge for our relationships in the business world, or just in life in general and our happiness.
Yeah, I agree. And I just made a change to this next one, which I think is interesting.
So you could say, thank you so much for all of that information.
We need to move on to the next agenda item.
And then I love what you said, Lindsey, please send me the rest of your notes, something like that.
But I had just, let's move on to the next agenda item, which it's interesting how that feels more dismissive as well.
Yeah. We need to move on, feels a little more like all of us, I'm including you.
Yeah. I mean, the fact is that person could have the best idea of the day, it just came at the wrong time.
That's not their fault.
They can have the business changing idea of the century.
That's really what's vital here is that the message you want to send is not that you don't want to hear what they say or what they're saying isn't important and everything to do with the timing.
We're short on time.
Right. Totally. So really smart to rephrase things as a leader.
Really important the way you say things.
Unfortunately, like we have to give that extra layer of thought, which is, which is good to creating that harmony at work.
It's interesting. So it's interesting because Marwa saw, you know, conflicting information online where some people are saying like, oh, this has a very negative connotation.
Maybe the dictionary isn't sharing that or is.
This happens where you see conflicting information online because it might be cultural.
It might be regional or like some of the people are thinking about these implications and others aren't.
So I loved this question.
These are the questions that are great for you guys to send.
If you're seeing conflicting information online, send us an email, you know, support at all there's English .com that makes for great episodes.
Yeah. I mean, I think the bottom line here is it just comes down to, are you talking to a person and dismissing them or are you collectively saying this is, we don't have any more time as a group and it's not about any one person not being heard.
It's about who are you singling out?
Yeah. Okay. Should we do a roleplay?
Yeah, let's do it. So I'm presenting in a meeting that you, my coworker, Lindsay are attending here.
Let's see how it goes.
All right. Here we go.
In the interest of expediency, I'll skip these next two slides.
Actually, we only have five minutes in order to make the most of the time we have left.
Let's jump to the Q and A.
Okay. I love this. This is really short.
And then I think you would add there, like, please send me the rest of your information so we can make sure that I recorded.
Yeah. Oh, for sure.
Really important because you had prepared slides, right?
And it might be really vital information, but we just only have five minutes, like makes you sad to think about it.
There's someone spent time preparing thinking and then they don't get to be heard.
I don't know. This happens all the time, though.
My husband he'll offer, he'll be like, Oh, I, you know, present prepared 35 minutes.
And then someone else went long.
So I had to cram it all into five minutes, which is going to be so frustrating when you spent all this time preparing and then you just didn't have the time to do everything.
It's tough. The corporate world's really tough, uh, getting heard, getting, taking, making sure you get credit for your work.
Really, really tough.
Um, other topics for other days, but, uh, do we want to break this down at all?
Yeah, so I first started with the, you know, the best way to use this phrase.
I was saying in a meeting, I see that I'm running out of time, so I'm letting people know why I'm skipping slides.
I could say in the interest of expediency, I'll skip these next two slides.
We have time here because I'm saying it while I skip the slides, you know, it sounds impressive.
This is a great phrase.
This is when it's good to use this phrase.
And so just to make sure I understand the context, you were going to continue with the rest of your presentation, right?
You were going to skip your first year.
I was going to skip.
I like, let's say I had presented for 10 or 15 minutes.
I see I'm running out of time and I know I have six slides and these two could maybe be skipped so that I can get to the rest of it.
I see. Got it. Okay.
Yeah. And then I said, actually, we have only five minutes in order to make the most of the time we have left.
Let's jump to the Q and a, and then we add on.
Could you please send me your slides or your thoughts after the meeting?
Right. Perfect. Yes.
Yes. I love it. These, I think this is an interesting phrase to think about.
Yes. You can use it, but it's not the best way to cut someone off.
I wouldn't use it to let someone know that they need to stop talking because we're not.
So the answer is it depends.
It depends. Guys, go and check out Business English, episode 235, predicament or pickle.
Are you in a tough spot at work?
Ooh, that episode, that title really makes me curious.
I know. That is the episode where we taught behind the eight ball and related phrases, answering Fabiana's question.
So I promised to let you know at the end now, as soon as you guys are done listening, go check out 235 if you missed it for some amazing vocab.
And where should we leave our listeners?
Again, like I said, it depends.
The answer really depends.
But what else do we need to know?
I think, like you said, it's very cultural in the US.
Saving time is a constant priority.
Even a phrase like this feels too long to take the time to say sometimes, but also you need the vocabulary to save time to this might happen where you do have to cut someone off and respectfully let them know that you're short on time.
Yeah, I think in coming back to the basic values that we know we need as human beings to be heard, to be connected, to do good work, to achieve.
These are really important and giving people the opportunity is good leadership.
Right? Yeah, definitely.
I agree. Great tips here and great vocab.
Awesome. All right, good stuff, Aubrey.
I'll see you in the next one.
Take care. See you next time.
Bye. Bye. Bye. Thank you for listening to Business English, a podcast just for you, the high achieving global professional.
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