--- title: "Meeting misunderstandings: 4 Steps to Clarify" description: Everyone deals with meeting misunderstandings. Here are some quick steps and phrases to help you make your meetings more effective. --- [Skip to content](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify#main-content) [![Target_Logo_ORIGINAL.png](https://hs.targettraining.eu/hs-fs/hubfs/Target_Logo_ORIGINAL.png?width=150&height=46&name=Target_Logo_ORIGINAL.png)](https://www.targettraining.eu/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Contact us](https://hs.targettraining.eu/en-gb/contact) [Contact us](https://hs.targettraining.eu/en-gb/contact) [All posts](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/all) January 21, 2020 # Meeting misunderstandings: 4 Steps to Clarify By  [Guest Author](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/author/guest-author)  ·  2 minute read \[av\_hr class='invisible' height='30' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' av\_uid='av-agtmk4'\] **Do you ever have to deal with meeting misunderstandings?** **So, you’ve just finished putting forward your proposal. You’d planned out what you wanted to say, given a few examples, convincingly described the advantages, and cautiously addressed the disadvantages. All extremely clearly. Or so you thought. Until you hear the first response:** “So, are you saying that you think we should XXX?” What you want to say is “No, no, no. We should YYY. Weren’t you listening? Can’t you read?” Obviously you can’t say that. Here are some phrases that could help you in this kind of situation.[![Go to the eBook](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/455190/720a6967-cb73-4d07-9ce8-4b78cd7111ac.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/455190/720a6967-cb73-4d07-9ce8-4b78cd7111ac) ### 4 Steps to clarify meeting misunderstandings \[av\_hr class='invisible' height='10' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' av\_uid='av-9ojblw'\] ##### Step 1: Answer the question/comment - *Not exactly.* - *Not quite.* - *That’s interesting.* ##### **Step 2: Rephrase your arguement** - *What I was trying to say was…* - *What I wanted to suggest was….* - *The point I intended to make was..* ##### **Step 3: Find a quick way of summarizing your argument again** - Let me show you this slide again. Here you can see the outline of the proposal. - The three key issues were…. - Basically, we should… ##### **Step 4: Check that the misunderstanding has been cleared up** - Is that clear now? - I hope that helps. - Is there anything else you’d like clarifying? \[av\_promobox button='no' label='Click me' link='manually,http://' link\_target='' color='theme-color' custom\_bg='#444444' custom\_font='#ffffff' size='large' icon\_select='no' icon='ue800' font='xingicon' av\_uid='av-7d42bo'\] ### **An example of dealing with meeting misunderstandings** *A: So, are you trying to say that we should XXX? B: Not exactly. What I wanted to say was that we really need to take a close look at YYY. If you look at this slide here, you can see the three main reasons why. Does that help?* \[/av\_promobox\] \[av\_hr class='invisible' height='2' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' av\_uid='av-682fvo'\] Following these 4 quick and easy steps, and using the phrases above, will help you have clearer communication in your meetings.  By alleviating your meeting misunderstandings, you will have faster, more productive meetings and save everyone time.  Want to improve your meetings?  Click [here](https://hs.targettraining.eu/?page_id=3137) for more info on how. \[av\_hr class='default' height='50' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' custom\_border='av-border-thin' custom\_width='50px' custom\_border\_color='' custom\_margin\_top='30px' custom\_margin\_bottom='30px' icon\_select='yes' custom\_icon\_color='' icon='ue808' font='entypo-fontello' admin\_preview\_bg='' av\_uid='av-h1t4k'\] ## FOR MORE INFORMATION - [After the meeting ends - more practical ideas from great chair persons](https://hs.targettraining.eu/?p=15639) - [The facts and benefits to consider before you organize a meeting](https://hs.targettraining.eu/?p=14066) - [Negotiations tactics - why silence is golden](https://hs.targettraining.eu/?p=13890) \[av\_hr class='default' height='50' shadow='no-shadow' position='center' custom\_border='av-border-thin' custom\_width='50px' custom\_border\_color='' custom\_margin\_top='30px' custom\_margin\_bottom='30px' icon\_select='yes' custom\_icon\_color='' icon='ue808' font='entypo-fontello' admin\_preview\_bg='' av\_uid='av-28zjs4'\] Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify) [twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-misunderstandings-clarify) ## Related posts [![Meeting Rules: Mobile Phones and Laptops](https://hs.targettraining.eu/hubfs/raw_assets/public/@marketplace/Drive_Web_Studio/Accelerator/images/img-blog-card-default.png)](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-rules-phones-laptops) [Meetings](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/tag/meetings) ### [Meeting Rules: Mobile Phones and Laptops](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-rules-phones-laptops) [![Meeting Agendas: 3 Key Elements](https://hs.targettraining.eu/hubfs/raw_assets/public/@marketplace/Drive_Web_Studio/Accelerator/images/img-blog-card-default.png)](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-agendas-3-key-elements) [Meetings](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/tag/meetings) ### [Meeting Agendas: 3 Key Elements](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-agendas-3-key-elements) [![Meeting Phrases: Disagreeing politely and diplomatically](https://hs.targettraining.eu/hubfs/raw_assets/public/@marketplace/Drive_Web_Studio/Accelerator/images/img-blog-card-default.png)](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-phrases-polite-diplomatic) [Hybrid solutions](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/tag/hybrid-solutions) ### [Meeting Phrases: Disagreeing politely and diplomatically](https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/meeting-phrases-polite-diplomatic) Copyright © 2026, Target Training GmbH ### Training you to succeed globally ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : [ "Guest Author" ], "url" : "https://hs.targettraining.eu/training-business/author/guest-author" }, "datePublished" : "2014-01-20T11:00:06+0000", "description" : "Everyone deals with meeting misunderstandings. 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