英文メールの書き方:意見が合わない時に使い分ける5段階のNO

こんなシチュエーション、お仕事でありませんか?

外国人の同僚から、企画への意見を求められました。企画に目を通してはみましたが、どうしても方向性に同意できません。

企画に対してNOと伝えるためにメールを書かなければなりません。さて、次のうちどのニュアンスが、自分の伝えたいNOなのでしょう?

1. Soft indirect NO
2. Soft NO
3. Formal NO
4. Strong NO
5. Absolute NO

文面によって伝わるニュアンスは全く異なります。すると、その結果として、相手の反応も変わってきます。どの言語でも、自分が書くメール文が相手にどのように受け取られるか考えながら書く必要がありますね。

 

英語メールで「意見が合わない時に使い分ける5段階のNO」お手本を動画でチェック!

こちらの動画では、上記の5つのニュアンスの英語メールの文例をご紹介します。

Hi everyone, welcome to E-mail Picks. So
today I wanted to show you how to say "no"

in several different ways to communicate
various nuances. So, let's imagine a

colleague named Phil sent me an e-mail to
ask for an opinion on his idea.

Now, I'm gonna say that it's not a great
idea. I'm gonna say NO. Let's take a look

at that e-mail.

As part of the employee
empowerment project, I came up with a

brilliant idea! We all walk through the
entrance door every morning, which is

held open by our rubber doorstopper. I
think the doorstopper is the key that

holds all employees together! So to
celebrate our company's 5th year

anniversary, why don't we custom order a doorstopper

made of diamond? I think that will raise
employee motivation because they'll see

it every morning. What do you think of my
idea? Don't you think it's great? Phil.

So in my mind I'm thinking two words:
NOWAY.

The door stopper does not hold anyone

together -- it holds the door.
But that's not the way

I should say "no." I need to control my
message because Phil is my colleague, not

my friend or a family member. So let's
see in how many different ways I can say

"no" to Phil's idea...

Um, I can see how a
diamond doorstopper may potentially

impact employee motivation, but you might
want to ask for everyone's opinion

before you go ahead with it.

You must have gone through a lot of thinking, but

I'm not sure if a diamond doorstopper
will be a cost-effective approach for

raising employee motivation.

After careful consideration, my conclusion is

that replacing the rubber doorstopper
with a diamond alternative may not be

the best option we should be considering
at this moment.

I honestly don't think the doorstopper is where we should be

looking at when we think about raising employee motivation.

I'll have to say
this is out of the question.

Other than being entertained by the
thought of your trying to explain to

the president how a diamond doorstopper
bring any sort of motivation to any sane

human being, I do not see any value to
that idea.

Pretty harsh, isn't it?

So now all I have to do is choose the right
message with the right nuance I would

like to communicate. Depending on my
choice, my "no" will sound strong or weak.

Depending on my choice, Phil may rethink
his idea or maybe feel angry or

maybe give up the project altogether. So
the result can be very different. You see

this is why you can't just rely on
translation software when you write

e-mail or messages. Translation software
is great technology but when you rely on

it too much when you want to communicate
with someone, an important part of the

message can be lost. The nuance you
wanted to communicate can be lost or

misunderstood so we need to watch out.
Anyway, that's it for today. I hope this

video helps you in some way in the
future. So thank you for watching and

I'll see you next time.

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