What do you want?

If you ask an Australian “What do you want?” you will get an answer. If you ask a Chinese person the same question, you probably won’t get a proper answer. 

The explanation is that after the question is translated into Chinese, it may have a different meaning depending on the contexts. It is a good question in restaurants or shops (if you are the service person), but can be a threat in a meeting room.  If so, Chinese people will be too busy figuring out why you are offended to think about what they want. How do I know what they want then? Get them to talk about themselves and ask “do you want me to do this…and this?” They may start telling you or at least trying to work things out with you. To help them find out what they need is part of your job, isn’t it?