[gardenhedge]

OP clearly said "If you're looking for the right turn of phrase, you already lost", which I quoted.

OP is correct that rapport is important - although that's a different thing from what the article is discussing. An exercise for you and OP: Consider being the boss of a team where you haven't had time to build rapport with the team.

[suoduandao2]

Even then, I probably know enough about the culture to make some adjustments. I’m going to speak very differently to a group of blue collar workers whose first language is English than a technical team who have varying degrees of facility with the language. The industry we’re in would further inform the tone I adopt.

I actually spent years doing something very similar to the exercise you’re suggesting, which is what led me to the conclusion that subtle variations of meaning are too easy to overthink to be worth it for anything but prose. Add to that the fact that the differences in meaning are going to be, well, different depending on the background of the person I’m speaking to led me to the conclusion that if I find myself thinking about phrasing for a particular person for more than a few seconds I should focus on getting to know that person better. My social interactions have improved a lot as a result.