Friday, December 28, 2007

Etiquette puzzle

I'm in a conversation with two other people, A and B. A asks B a question. A and B have every reason to believe that B is the most qualified person to answer the question. However, I know at least as much as B, if not more, and have every reason to believe that I can explain it better than B.* Should I chime in, "Oh, I've translated about that! Here's how it works!"? Should I wait for an opening and then put in my two cents, if I have anything to add on top of what B says? Should I passive-aggressively ask B questions to lead them to providing the information that A needs? Or should I just shut up and let B be the expert?

*Really, this isn't ego. Something about how I learn things when translating about them seems to make me far better able to explain them to outsiders than insiders can. In other cases, I've experienced something firsthand and studied it academically, when B has done only one or the other.

2 comments:

Fran said...

I think you should wait for an opening and then say what you know about it. That way, you're not really intruding on/being rude to B, plus you may give A some perspective B doesn't have, or at least explain it better. Then A may realize you're just as or more qualified than B and next time you'll be asked for your input/expertise from the get-go.

laura k said...

I agree with Fran. You wait for an opening, than say something to the effect of, "I have experience in this area. May I add my two cents?" Or, "Or, that's something I happen to know quite a bit about. In addition to what B said, here's another perspective."