201 Getting the point across

A: Hey Sarah, are you all right? You look upset.

S: As a matter of fact, I am a bit upset. I just came out of a meeting and it didn't go very well.

A: What happened?

S: No one would listen to any of my suggestions. Instead, they just kept arguing with each other.

A: Who was chairing the meeting?

S: Bob.

A: Well, I can tell you from experience that Bob might come off a little strong sometimes.

S: That's exactly what happened! He kept interrupting everyone with his own suggestions and did not want to hear what others had to say. Then he expected everyone to agree with him.

原来，Sarah不高兴是因为刚才开会时，没人愿意听她的建议。Amanda说，根据她的经验，主持会议的 Bob有时会显得过于强硬，come off a little too strong。come off 是表现出，显得的意思。Sarah 说没错，开会时Bob不停地打岔，kept interrupting everyone. Interrupt is spelled i-n-t-e-r-r-u-p-t, interrupt, interrupt指打断别人的谈话。Amanda说，

A: What was the meeting about?

S: We were trying to come up with ideas to streamline the office's workflow to make it more efficient.

A: It's ironic that the meeting was anything but efficient.

S: Exactly. I had tons of ideas that I wanted to share, but they just wouldn't let me finish. What should I have done to get my point across?

这次开会目的是讨论如何简化工作流程，streamline the office's workflow. streamline意思是精简，目的是提高效率，make it more efficient. workflow是工作流程。Sarah问Amanda, What should I have done to get my point across? 我该怎么做才能把我的想法传递给别人呢？to get something across在这里意思是把自己的想法告诉给别人。Amanda有什么好建议吗？

A: You have to keep things short and sweet. When you get a chance to speak, try not to get into too many unnecessary details.

S: Short and sweet? But what if I have to explain something complicated?

A: You can always bring up the main points during the meeting and speak to those who are directly involved after the meeting. Not everyone needs to know all that information.

S: That's a good idea, I think I will try that at the next meeting.

Amanda告诉Sarah, 话要说得 short and sweet。Short and sweet 是个习惯用语，意思是简单明了。Amanda建议，开会的时候，应该拣主要的说， bring up the main points, 不用加太多不必要的细节，unnecessary details. 这样别人才会比较容易了解并接受她的意见。