That&#x27;s precisely the point. :)<p>Take at your statement, and pretend a frustrated&#x2F;easily embarrassed&#x2F;grumpy person is hearing it:<p>&quot;You look like you could use some help&quot; --&gt; &quot;You look like you don&#x27;t know what you&#x27;re doing&#x2F;you look frustrated&quot;<p>&quot;I may be able to offer relevant expertise&quot; --&gt; &quot;I assume that I both have something to offer and that you are having a problem of this particular way&#x2F;shape&#x2F;form&quot;<p>&quot;in the interests of addressing your apparent problem&quot; --&gt; &quot;whatever you&#x27;re working on is clearly broken, and needs fixing&quot;<p>My formulation is intentionally very gentle and indirect, precisely to avoid any of the above misinterpretations. Working with people experienced in the field or who are known to be open to communication, obviously, we want to be more direct; for a novice, or for somebody who is looking for any excuse to take offense at what you&#x27;re saying (perhaps because they&#x27;re frustrated at their work and want to vent at something), it is useful to take a lighter touch.