Don’t assume. Confirm.

She thought she understood. She hadn’t.

A client told me about a meeting last week.

Her colleague said, “Can you have a look at this when you get a chance?”

She spent two hours reviewing it and sent detailed feedback.

He was surprised. He’d only meant, “Feel free to read it if you’re interested.”

Both were speaking English. Neither was wrong. And yet they left the conversation with completely different expectations.

Researchers call this perceived comprehension: you think the message got through when it didn’t. Nobody notices until the misunderstanding turns into extra work, a missed deadline or an awkward conversation.

The problem isn’t vocabulary. It’s context. And context is invisible until something goes wrong.

When a conversation feels clear but leaves room for interpretation, one sentence can help:

“I just want to check I’ve understood correctly. My understanding is that…“

You don’t need perfect English to avoid misunderstandings. You need the confidence to check.

Quick win: After any important conversation, say, “Let me confirm what we’ve agreed.”