Wrapping everything in a euphemism does not make it more professional.
Finding a way to speak clearly and truthfully without being outright rude, as appropriate for the culture and situation, is important. Speaking up when necessary is important. But it's a lot more nuanced than phrase substitution.
Some of these are pretty good. Some would make you sound extremely passive-aggressive. Some of them imply your own attitude problem ("I told you so...").
A lot are most professionally handled by saying nothing at all. While it is important to speak up truthfully when there would be some positive outcome for you or me or your team, some of these fall into a category where the best outcome is to leave it. It's either irrelevant, unhelpful, or a self-solving dilemma ;-)
Pretend Nice ! => Professional - you're fooling no one
> Wrapping everything in a euphemism does not make it more professional.
We may have very different definitions of "euphemism", but I do not see saying "I’m unable to add value to this meeting but I would be happy to review the minutes." instead of "That meeting sounds like a waste of my time" as a euphemism.
The benefit of the former is that you are signaling an openness to being wrong. The latter doesn't imply you're right, but nor is it signaling an invitation to disagree. In my experience, when people (including me) say the latter, they are wrong about 50% of the times - there often is something in the meeting that made it useful. Stating it is a waste of my time will come across as arrogant (justified or otherwise).
Even saying "I'm not sure there's value in meeting. What are you hoping to gain from this meeting?" is better than "I think it's a waste of my time".
Agree. That was one of the better examples. Saying "That meeting sounds like a waste of my time" is pretty rude.
To me the euphemism part is "I’m unable to add value to this meeting" which means "I don't see the need for me to attend this meeting".
Your examples are better too. Adding a question to ensure you've not misread the situation is absolutely the right thing: "I don't see the need for me to attend this meeting, is there something you needed me for?"
Finding a way to speak clearly and truthfully without being outright rude, as appropriate for the culture and situation, is important. Speaking up when necessary is important. But it's a lot more nuanced than phrase substitution.
Some of these are pretty good. Some would make you sound extremely passive-aggressive. Some of them imply your own attitude problem ("I told you so...").
A lot are most professionally handled by saying nothing at all. While it is important to speak up truthfully when there would be some positive outcome for you or me or your team, some of these fall into a category where the best outcome is to leave it. It's either irrelevant, unhelpful, or a self-solving dilemma ;-)
Pretend Nice ! => Professional - you're fooling no one