Complete Lesson Transcript –
Hello everyone this is Ceema, I have a quick question for you. How much money do you make? How much do you earn every month? Now did you think this question was rude? Did this question make you feel a little awkward? Or maybe you think that I am plain stupid because I’m asking you a question like that. Well probably all of the three. Now when I have to answer a question like that, believe it or not I pretty much feel the same way. So I’m gonna show you what you can say to people who ask you a question like how much do you make?
Alright now I’ve gotta tell you that before I come to the sentences, your answers are going to vary depending on who is asking you the question and in what context, the question is being asked. Okay so let’s have a look at a few responses that you can probably use to answer a question like this.
Alright we’ve got the first answer that you can give. Now you can say, I’m not comfortable with sharing that information or you could simply say that, it is personal or it is private. Now sometimes you know you meet people for the first time or you’ve just met them for a couple of times or maybe you are on your first date and some people don’t have the sense to not ask you a question like that. So when you don’t someone very well, you will say I am not comfortable with sharing that information or you can say, simply that it is a very personal question to ask, it is private. Okay that’s what you will say when you meet someone for the first time or someone you don’t know really very well, okay.
And you have another answer for a question like this. Now this is going to be used when you have a co-worker. So you are at your job and all of you get paid, right? But you have a co-worker who is cheeky enough to ask you a question like that. So when a co-worker asks you a question like that, you will just say, the company does not allow us to discuss that. Okay so now when you tell a co-worker, this, the co-worker knows that he has stepped the line. He is doing something that he is not legally supposed to do. So that is going to kind of make him zip it up, right? So when you say that the company does not allow you to discuss that, you are basically saying that it’s not legal for us to discuss information like that, okay. Now well some people don’t really get the point and some people have made you very uncomfortable. Now it’s your turn to make them as uncomfortable as they’ve made you feel, right? So you’re gonna you know drop a bomb, okay. Okay you’re gonna ask them a question like, why do you want to know? So this can also be used when you have a co-worker or you know a friend, who would ask you a question like that, okay. So when you ask a question, why do you want to know? You’re actually answering a question with another question, right? So when you do that, that kind of puts the person in an uncomfortable situation as well. And then they kind of realize that may be the question they’ve asked was not a very clever one. Not a very good question to ask. Alright so if you wanna make someone as uncomfortable as they make you feel, you might wanna ask them, why do you want to know? Right, so that’s what you can use or you can also say, I’m too embarrassed to say. Now you don’t have to always felt awkward, you don’t have to always feel offended when someone asks you how much you make. You can simply you know put in a bit of humour, right? So if you wanna put in a bit of humour, you can say something like, I can tell, I’m too embarrassed to say. So that kind of gives the idea that you are not earning so much. So you are a little bit embarrassed to actually divulge that kind of information. so that’s kind of said in good humour to people who you may know or like may be a good friend or you could again use it for a co-worker, who is asking you a question like that, okay.
We have another very interesting response you could use. It goes like this; I make enough to support my family. Now this is something you can use when a relative or a family member would ask you a question like that. You know I’ve got very nosy relatives, they wanna know everything that I do. They wanna know how much I make; they wanna know what care I drive, they wanna know everything, right? But you don’t wanna give them that information. You think it’s very personal, right? So when you have a relative or family member who really wants to know that question or wants to know the answer to what you make. You can say something like I make enough to support my family. That kind of is a very vague answer but it is an answer telling them that you’re taking care of everything with the money you are making. You are taking care of your family, you’re taking care of yourself, and you’re taking care of everything. Okay a very wise answer and a very vague answer. But enough to make them shut up for some time. Okay and then we’ve got another response that you could probably use. Now this is going to be used when you have someone who is trying to apply for a similar position as you are in. Okay now this is a very genuine question, okay so when you have a very, a person who is genuine enough to really want to know what you are making without the intention of being nosy or cheeky or you know plain stupid. You can say something like this, you can say something like, the typical range for a position similar to mine is around may be you know 40 bucks an hour. Now I did use this when a colleague of mine, who tried to you know work in the same department as I was working, wanted to know what the pay was like. And I thought it was pretty okay to share the information because she wanted to actually you know kind of get into the same job as I was doing. So I thought it would be pretty okay for me to give that information. So when you have someone who is genuinely asking you for that kind of information, I think it is okay to say, that the typical range for a position similar to what you are doing could be around 50, may be 60 bucks an hour. Okay so you are giving them a ball park figure, but you are not giving them the exact information and yet you kind of give them information enough for them to you know kind of move forward. Okay so, that’s what you can use for someone who really wants to know.
And then you’ve got another one, the sentence goes like this, it says it depends on how much I work. Well when would you use this? Well if you are getting paid as per how much you work, you are probably into business. You have a business of your own; you’re probably working on contracts. In other words, you’re probably a freelancer. Okay so if I am a freelancing trainer, okay I get paid depending on how much I work, right? I get paid depending on how many lessons I take. so when you have someone asking you the question and if you are you know a freelancer, someone who does contracts or someone who runs a business, it’s very simple for you to say something like, it depends on how much I work. Or you could also say, it depends on how good the business runs or how well the business runs. Okay and the next answer are going to be a very sarcastic answer because some people really don’t get the point. They don’t know that you can’t really be asking a question like that and its plain rude. So if you wanna get a little sarcastic with them, you can say something like, I make a million bucks an hour. Well that’s in their face, isn’t it? Because you are being sarcastic, they know that this is not possibly true but you’ve got to say that to them anyway because that’s going to keep them all shut up for some time at least.
Okay and well we have another very interesting answer. This again can be used in good humour. Okay so if you have a friend of yours or anyone who you don’t really want to share the information with but you don’t wanna offend them. So you can say something like, well I live on love and fresh air. we all know that’s not true but that’s what you can say to add a bit of humour in order to avoid anyone from getting offended or feeling bad and the last possible answer you could give is, not as much as I think I deserve. Again this is something used in humour or this is probably another way of saying that you are not getting paid enough, right? So if someone asks you how much do you make and you are not happy with your wage, you are not happy with your salary, you will say, not as much as I think I deserve. Okay well that’s it from me in this lesson on how much do you make? If you have better answers than what I have mentioned on the board, please drop in your comments. I’d love to hear from you. I’ll be back with some more interesting lessons, until then this is me saying take care.
