You’re on a call with a client. The finance director is talking fast, and a number goes by. You didn’t catch it. You understood most of the rest, but this number matters. You know you should ask. But “Repeat the number” sounds too blunt, and a long, perfect sentence takes too long to build. So you say nothing. A minute later a colleague asks, the director repeats it, and the meeting moves on. The question itself was simple. What you needed was a soft version, one or two small words that make a direct question polite.