- Published on
Technical Meetings English: Clarifying Questions That Prevent Expensive Mistakes
- Authors
- Name
- 1) Podcast Intro
- 2) Core Expressions
- 3) Fill in the Blanks
- 4) Speaking Practice
- 5) Japanese → English Translation
- 6) Listening Challenge
1) Podcast Intro
In fast technical meetings, small misunderstandings create big delays.
Today’s training helps you ask precise clarifying questions without sounding uncertain.
You’ll practice practical expressions, fill-in-the-blank drills, speaking prompts, and translation output.
Let’s train to confirm scope, priority, and next actions clearly.
2) Core Expressions
| Expression | Meaning | 例 |
|---|---|---|
| Could you clarify what you mean by ~? | 〜の意味を明確に要求 | Could you clarify what you mean by “production-ready”? |
| Just to make sure I understood correctly, ~ | 理解確認 | Just to make sure I understood correctly, we deploy on Friday, right? |
| Are we optimizing for A or B? | 優先順位の確認 | Are we optimizing for speed or stability in this release? |
| What would success look like here? | 成功基準の確認 | What would success look like here for this sprint? |
| Can we align on the next steps? | 実行計画の並べ替え | Can we align on the next steps before we close? |
3) Fill in the Blanks
- Could you __ what you mean by “minimal scope”? Answer: clarify
- Just to make sure I understood __, we pause feature B this week.
Answer: correctly - Are we optimizing __ latency or cost in phase one?
Answer: for - What would success look __ for this API migration?
Answer: like - Can we align __ the next steps and owners?
Answer: on
4) Speaking Practice
- Your PM says, “Let’s simplify the dashboard.” Ask one clarifying question.
Sample: Could you clarify which user segment we should prioritize for simplification? - The timeline changed suddenly. Confirm understanding and priority.
Sample: Just to make sure I understood correctly, we’re moving the release to Thursday and prioritizing bug fixes over new features, right? - End a meeting with action alignment.
Sample: Can we align on the next steps, owners, and deadlines before we wrap up?
5) Japanese → English Translation
- 「私が正しく理解したことを確認したい」
Answer: I want to make sure I understood correctly. - 「今回の作業の成功基準は何ですか？」
Answer: What would success look like for this task? - 「仕上げの前に次のステップで並べ替えることができますか？」
Answer: Can we align on the next steps before we wrap up?
6) Listening Challenge
Listen and write the missing phrase:
A) “**__**, are we deprioritizing the payment refactor this sprint?”
Answer: Just to make sure I understood correctly
B) “Before we start implementation, **__**?”
Answer: could you walk me through an example use case
C) “Great discussion. **__** and owners?”
Answer: Can we align on the next steps
Practice tip: In real meetings, one precise clarifying question is often more valuable than ten vague comments.