This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 507.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Hedging at work is key for connections.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Doing pretty well today, Michelle.
How's everything going with you?
Yep, everything's going well over here.
But correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we decide to record Thursday next week instead of Wednesday?
Ooh, that's a good question.
Let me check my book, Michelle.
So yeah, actually, no, we decided to record on Wednesday.
Okay, all right.
Very good.
I guess I was wrong.
So today we're going to talk about a really great way to hedge if you aren't super confident about something at work.
And this is this expression, correct me if I'm wrong.
What do you think about this one, Lindsay?
I really like it.
I think it's really important in the business world business English to have hedges like this that provide a bit of cover, a bit of indirectness, a bit of politeness before we make a statement about something.
Yeah, yeah.
And recently I heard somebody say this, I believe it was about cost.
So I believe so.
It was someone who worked with my husband and we were all on a call to see if a certain software would be helpful for the office.
And she was asking a question and she said, oh, correct.
She was asking, you know, the sales, the saleswoman.
And she said, oh, correct me if I'm wrong, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Um, and I just realized how, what a great expression that is.
Yeah.
Um, our listeners have to know this for sure.
Incredibly useful, right?
So I definitely wanted to cover it for today.
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Yes, good stuff.
So Michelle, what exactly does it mean when I say correct me if I'm wrong?
Let's just break out the definition first.
Yeah, well, it means just what it sounds like.
It's saying you understand, there's a chance you're mistaken about something, and that person should feel free to say so if they recognize the mistake.
It's like giving.
It's like giving the freedom to say I really think this is true, but tell me, you know, don't be afraid of kind of hurting my feelings if I'm wrong.
Yeah.
And it kind of opens up an environment that I don't know, certain work environments.
Sometimes maybe people feel like they can't disagree, which is not a great environment, but it can happen.
Depending on status.
If you're talking to someone, maybe below you in the company.
The hierarchy of the company.
So you want to open that up and show you want the truth, right?
We don't just want you to blindly agree with us.
And again, this is really all about hedging.
I mean, maybe you really aren't sure.
So you're saying, oh, correct me if I'm wrong.
But at the same time, you might also...
Be pretty confident, but you just want to hedge.
You might want to be polite.
Maybe you're actually you're doing the correcting.
Right.
Right.
Sure.
Yeah.
Well, let's see what this looks like in a couple of examples, Michelle.
So here's one.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a meeting in half an hour?
Right.
So maybe you're with your boss and they're focused on something else, or you might just say correct me if I'm wrong you're hedging.
You know we have a meeting in half an hour, but this is just kind of a nice way to say it.
Yeah, maybe it looks like people are not getting ready for a meeting, something like that.
And you're like, what's happening?
I thought there was a meeting.
Um, so your inner dialogue is like, what's going on?
Yeah.
Yeah.
But you're not going to say that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or what's another way we could use it?
It could say, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we try this idea last year?
Okay.
So this is it.
Maybe you are in a meeting and five other executives are like yes, let's do X, But then you're like we did X last year.
Right.
Right.
So that's a little intimidating to speak up and say that.
If you're intimidated, this is a good thing to say.
Right.
And even if you know you're not wrong, just saying this is backing off just a little bit.
You're not saying, we did this last year.
You're saying, correct me.
So it's a hedge.
Or here.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the slides were on the table in the other room.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Or correct me if I'm wrong.
Weren't you and Jacob working on a supply budget?
So there could be a lot of reasons why you use this.
Maybe you feel intimidated.
Maybe you want to be extra polite.
Maybe you're talking to someone above you.
Maybe you're saying something that you know isn't going to go over well, but it's a very useful phrase to break out of her back pocket sometimes.
Oh, yeah.
I think this is a really, really good one.
I mean, Lindsay, would you say that you use this?
I think I use variations of this and maybe we'll talk about a couple of variations just to kind of make sure I'm being somewhat humble as a leader in the company.
And like I want people to be able to disagree and push back, you know.
So, yeah, I try to convey this vibe, but not always with this exact phrase.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it is definitely very useful, but again, we always talk about this as well.
You know, don't say it every time, right?
Yeah.
The more you say this, don't hedge yourself too much.
Um, right.
You want to, you want to sound confident, right?
Not every, don't say it with every single one.
Otherwise, you'll become like an episode of The Office, right?
Like the person that does this silly thing all the time or Seinfeld.
Right, exactly.
You become known for it.
Don't do that.
Yeah.
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All right.
So Michelle, we talked about conveying the same vibe, but not using the same words.
So some other things that we might say, I may be mistaken, but...
And this is good too when, as like as a manager, if someone on the team has made a mistake and I need to, I need to point it out because I can't just let it slip.
Right.
Because we need to correct it for next time.
Right.
But I don't want to just be accusatory.
Like you said, like you made this mistake.
So I might approach, I might use these phrases, any of these phrases, for that reason, too kind of correcting mistakes.
Yes.
Very good for correcting mistakes.
It can be, it can be intimidating to be the person who has to correct a mistake.
I mean, a lot of emotions could get involved or who's going to get offended.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
So it might look like this.
I may be mistaken, but So I may be mistaken, but didn't we already submit the results to our clients?
Right?
Or here's another one.
Let me know if I'm wrong or let me know if I'm off.
You could use either of them.
Let me know if I'm wrong, but I thought we were going to use the first design, not the second.
Okay, good.
Another one could be, I could be wrong, but.
Right.
I could be wrong.
But Jennifer generally has us leave the boxes in the copy room.
So you're making a statement here that you're hedging, because again you're saying something that's true, that you believe is true.
But you want to show that humility that, you know, you could be mistaken.
Right.
Yeah.
So these are these are for those kind of touchy situations.
You need to make a correction.
You need to point something out.
Um, you need to get someone to focus on something.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't we have a meeting coming up?
Right.
Um, but these are just really good ways to introduce them that aren't going to sound too direct, give you a little bit of space between what you are actually saying and you know, and that person who could be.
You know, you never know how somebody could react or feel.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Let's go into a role play here, Michelle.
So we're not going to use everything, because that would be a strange conversation, a very long conversation.
But we are coworkers here.
We're going to go over a list of tasks.
Okay.
All right.
All right.
Okay.
So I may be mistaken, but weren't you assigned to A and I was assigned to B?
That's what I thought.
Oh, okay.
Good.
Wait.
So correct me if I'm wrong.
Isn't this supposed to be an alphabetical order?
Uh, I don't think it matters, but we can do it in case.
I mean, it could be wrong, but I thought that's what she said.
Sounds good.
Yeah.
This is quite a, quite a, quite a bit of hedging in this conversation.
And again, I think this is really interesting because it also depends on how close you are in relationship to the person you're talking to, your coworker, right?
If you feel really close to someone, you work with them every day, you might feel a little more freedom to drop these hedges.
It might not be necessary.
Right.
Cause you've built that mutual level of respect where it's okay.
But it's true.
There's, there's definitely space here.
Um, you know unless uh, I mean if you're close to someone your coworker, but you do, actually you do have to correct them and you're feeling a little uncomfortable about it.
Maybe it's a big thing and then you still might want to use these, but just for something like Oh uh, Like for the first example like oh, I think I was assigned A and you were assigned B right,
Right.
Like it might be more casual like that.
Yeah.
These are a little on the formal side, right?
Definitely.
They take a big wind up.
They're a bit of a wind up phrase.
I don't know.
It just feels like a lot to say.
So as you get closer to someone, but you still want to hedge.
Doing something like right is a great way to do that at the more casual level, right?
That's good.
So let's go through what we did here.
So you said, okay, so I may be mistaken, but weren't you assigned A and I was assigned B?
So again, we're hedging with that first phrase.
And then you actually say, that's what I thought.
So you agreed with me.
So here, it sounds like I was actually not sure.
Actually not sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then I said, wait, so correct me if I'm wrong.
Isn't this supposed to be an alphabetical order?
So again, now I'm saying something I'm confused about.
And then I said I don't think it matters, but we can do it in.
I mean, I could be wrong, but I thought that's what she said.
So we're both like a little bit confused about something.
Yeah.
And this happens a lot.
There's a lot of confusion that happens.
So communication is super important, but communication with respect is the most important, right?
That's what this is all about right here.
Absolutely.
Michelle, what's another episode our listeners should go to right now to keep stay, stay with the vibe of business English.
All right, guys, head on over to episode 499.
Um, we did, this was a fun one.
Do you move the goalposts on your English?
Definitely check it out.
Really good one.
And I think what we've said is the takeaway.
I mean, communication is key.
There are so many moments where we need to either clarify or push back disagree, but it really matters the way we deliver it and the phrases we choose, whether we want to use a formal hedging phrase like this or something more casual by just saying right, or isn't that right?
It depends on the relationship.
Yeah, definitely.
So give these a try.
Consider your relationships with your coworkers and definitely see how you could use these.
But you will hear these.
Great stuff, Michelle.
We'll see you next time.
Take care.
All right.
Bye.
Bye.
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