'Interesting' 喺對話入面究竟想講乜

點解呢句咁難捉摸

'Interesting' 睇落係一句安全、正面嘅說話。當有人分享一個諗法、一個計劃,或者一份作品,你回一句 'interesting' 感覺好有禮貌、好投入。好多學習者都會將佢當成一個友善、萬用嘅回應。

問題係,'interesting' 係對話裏面最有彈性嘅字之一。佢可以代表真心嘅好奇同興奮,亦都可以係一種唔公開反對、靜靜咁講出「我未被說服」嘅方式。聽嘅人要靠你嘅語氣同跟住嗰句說話,先至知道你究竟想講邊一樣。

正因為呢個字本身透露得咁少,一句乾巴巴嘅 'interesting' 通常會令對方搞唔清楚你係鍾意佢嘅諗法、唔鍾意,定係淨係唔想評論。

'Interesting' 通常帶住以下其中一個意思:

頭兩個係溫暖嘅。第三個就係收埋嘅嗰個,而且常見到聽嘅人通常都會懷疑。

當你帶住活力,再加一條跟進問題咁講,'interesting' 聽落真誠而且令人鼓舞。但如果講得平淡、緩慢,又冇跟進,佢可能聽落好似客氣嘅反對,甚至有啲悶。

喺工作場合,一場簡報之後淨係一句 'interesting',感覺會冷淡,因為佢既冇讚美亦冇解釋。人哋可能會理解成「我有啲冇講出嚟嘅疑慮」。如果佢結束咗對話,亦可以聽落好敷衍,因為佢暗示你冇嘢可以再補充。

解決方法好簡單:講出有乜嘢有趣,或者講出你真正嘅反應。一個具體嘅回應可以省去所有猜測。

如果你想表達⋯	不妨咁講⋯	語氣
我真心覺得好奇	I'd love to hear more about how that works	溫暖、投入
我感到驚喜	That's not what I expected, and I like it	誠實、正面
我需要少少時間諗一諗	Let me think about that for a second	平和、誠實
我有疑慮	I see the idea, though I have a couple of questions	直接、有禮
我唔同意,但尊重呢個諗法	That's a different angle from mine, can we compare them?	開放、公道

一句乾巴巴嘅回應可能聽落唔被說服:

A: I think we should rebuild the whole schedule.
B: Interesting.

一個更清楚嘅版本就顯示出真正嘅投入:

A: I think we should rebuild the whole schedule.
B: Interesting, what made you want to change the whole thing?

當你真心鍾意一個諗法嗰陣,就講得具體啲:

A: I added a short summary at the top of the report.
B: That's a great touch, it makes the report much easier to scan.

當你有疑慮嗰陣,就溫和咁講出嚟:

A: We could skip the review step to save time.
B: I see the appeal, though I'm a little worried we'd miss errors.

如果你想表達「話多啲我聽」,就加一條問題。如果你想表達「我唔太肯定」,就講出你唔肯定嘅地方。一句孤伶伶嘅 'interesting' 只會令聽嘅人去估。

一位同學講解一個你真心想了解嘅讀書方法。
- A. Interesting.
- B. Interesting, how do you keep track of it all?
- C. Hmm, interesting.
Answer: B — 一條跟進問題顯示出真正嘅好奇,而唔係客氣嘅迴避。
一位同事提出一個你有誠實顧慮嘅諗法。
- A. Interesting.
- B. Interesting, I guess.
- C. I can see the idea, though I'd like to ask a couple of questions first.
Answer: C — 佢清楚講出你嘅反應,而唔係匿喺一個含糊嘅字後面。
有人分享一個真心令你又驚又喜嘅消息。
- A. Interesting.
- B. That's not what I expected, and honestly I love it.
- C. Oh. Interesting.
Answer: B — 一個具體、溫暖嘅回應清楚表達出你正面嘅驚喜。