You don’t like to be rude to people. But some people don’t read subtle social cues. You get frustrated because they don’t understand what you’re trying to communicate when you’re being nice. But being blunt seems so, well, rude!
This is why I invented the term “The hierarchy of politeness.” You may do these steps intuitively. Or, if you’re like most people, you stop before doing what you consider too blunt, and therefore, rude.
And you end up feeling frustrated.
Let me walk you through a common scenario and how to use the hierarchy of politeness.