We all do it sometimes. We undermine ourselves by using less-effective language, verbal tics, and other oral miscues. That means there's always room for improvement to help your messages get through effectively.
我們有時候會這樣:說一些沒多大用處的話,比如口頭禪或口誤而大大削弱了自己真正想表達的意思。這意味著你的有效傳達信息能力還有待提高。

We can all also use a little reminder now and then, so here are 12 of the worst offenses
我們時不時會使用一些提示語,那么下面的這12個便是交談中被視為最糟糕的口頭禪了。

1.“No problem” (when you really mean “you’re welcome”)
1.“沒關(guān)系”(當(dāng)你想表達“不客氣”的時候)

When you say “no problem” in response to “thank you,” you’re actually devaluing the person who offers thanks by suggesting that whatever you did for him or her was of so little value to you that it hardly required effort.
當(dāng)你回應(yīng)別人的“謝謝你”時使用“沒關(guān)系”,實際上此時你在暗示無論你幫助他/她做了什么事情都是如此微不足道的,從而間接貶低了對你表達感謝的人。

2.“Sorry” (when you mean “excuse me”)
2.“對不起”(當(dāng)你想表達“不好意思”的時候)

Everyone appreciates a sincere apology, but using “sorry” when you really mean “excuse me” (or perhaps simply “get out of my way”) undermines your professionalism--and can make you sound a little like a bully.
人們都欣賞真誠的道歉,但是當(dāng)你在表達“不好意思”(或僅僅是,“請讓一讓”時),你說了“對不起”,實際上在削弱你的專業(yè)性,甚至讓你聽起來有點氣勢凌人。

3. “Just … ”
3.“只是……”

There’s not enough justice in this world, but when you use the word just in the wrong context, you minimize your impact. “I just want to bring up one point,” for example, telegraphs that whatever you’re about to say is of little importance.
世界上永遠沒有足夠的公平,而當(dāng)你在不恰當(dāng)?shù)那闆r下使用了這個詞,就會降低你的影響力。比如說,“我只想提出一點”,意味著無論你說什么都是沒多大用處的。

4. “Know what I mean?”
4.“你懂我意思嗎?”

While it’s smart to ensure that people you’re speaking with are on the same page, it’s pretty annoying--and unprofessional--to be so unaware of your verbal tics that you keep repeating the same phrases.
盡管確保他人聽懂你所表達的意思是很聰明的做法,但是有時候也會非常惱人,而且也不專業(yè),因為你沒有意識到自己一直在重復(fù)這句口頭禪。

5. Syllogisms
5.推斷論

We live in a time of syllogisms: “It is what it is” and “It’s all good,” for example. These are harmless phrases in the abstract, and they were probably even witty once upon a time. But if you pepper your speech with them, you undermine the sense that you’re a serious person.
我們生活在推理的時代:“它就是它”,“一切都很好”。這些言辭在書籍的摘要里無關(guān)痛癢,并且曾經(jīng)一度被認為是智慧的表現(xiàn)。但如果你想在演講中一直使用這些言辭,那么你就會顯得不夠嚴謹。

6. “You guys … ”
6.“你們這幫家伙……”

I admit, I fall prey to this one myself sometimes. Using “you guys” as an all-purpose substitute for the second-person plural is a bad habit that can undermine your message by making assumptions about how familiar your audience really wants to be.
筆者承認,我有時候也會犯這樣的錯誤。使用“你們這些人”作為一種替換第二人稱復(fù)數(shù)的形式絕對是一個壞習(xí)慣,它因暗示你與聽眾的熟悉程度,從而降低你的信息傳遞的有效性。

7. Apologetic (nervous) laughter
7.歉疚地笑

Unapologetic laughter is great, and often contagious. Apologetic, nervous laughter is at best undermining, and at worst, unnerving.
毫無顧忌的笑是很棒的,而且常常能感染他人。而帶有道歉意味的,惶恐的笑容則最具有毀滅性了,最壞的程度就是讓人緊張不安的感覺了。

8. “It’s our policy … ”
8.“這是我們的規(guī)定”

This is a filler phrase that suggests your hands are tied and you can’t help someone, when they’re truly only tied by your own choices.
這是一個表示你愛莫能助的托詞,而真正束縛你幫助他人的原因在于你自己的選擇。

9. “In my opinion … ”
9.“依我看來……”

If you’re going to assert something, in most cases you come across as more professional if you simply assert it--not undermine your own point by saying it’s only your opinion. (We know it’s your opinion; convince us of it.)
如果你想表達某些事情,那么你只需把它說出來就已經(jīng)能顯示你的專業(yè)了,而不是加上一句“這只是我的個人觀點”從而削弱了話語的影響力。(因為我們都知道是你的觀點,那就說服我們吧。)

10. “Like … ”
10.“比如……”

There’s a lot to like about like, but there’s little to like about its use as an all-purpose filler.
有太多“比如……”的舉例了,但并不是完全通用的。

11. “Um … ”
11.“恩……”

Only the smoothest, most-rehearsed talkers are able to overcome the fact that the intelligent human brain thinks much faster than we’re able to express those thoughts; that’s part of why we all rely on verbal crutches like “um” and “uh.” That said, overusing these is highly distracting and undermines your credibility.
只有表達最流暢,排練最多的演說者才能克服智慧頭腦的思考比說話快的問題,那就是我們會依賴一些口頭語氣詞“恩”或“額”的原因了。但是,過度使用這些語氣詞將會分散聽眾的注意力以及削弱你的有效性。

12. Cursing
咒罵

Well-timed strategic profanity can be effective. Lazy cursing is distracting in many cases, and can be totally undermining depending on your audience.
適時說些臟話也會挺奏效的。但是過多的咒罵在大多數(shù)情況下,取決于你的聽眾就會大大降低它的有效性。

聲明:本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容,轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點,僅供參考。如有不妥之處,歡迎指正。