Spanish "can I count on you"

[vintagesymphony]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum! I'm making calls in both English and Spanish as part of my job, and one of the questions we ask is "Can I count on you to share your personal story about ___". When I ask it in English, people usually start going into their story right away, but when I ask in Spanish "¿Puedo contar con que compartirá su historia personal sobre ___" they say "sí" and then don't say anything. Should my prompt be more "Puedes decir un par de frases sobre ___" or "cuando esté listo, por favor dígame un par de frases sobre ___"? Thanks for your help!

[白田龍]

"¿Puedo contar con que compartirá su historia personal sobre ___", sounds like you will need the person to tell the story at a future ocasion.
Try something like: "Cuentame su historia..."

[Querneus]

Yeah, that, or it's more polite form Cuénteme por favor su experiencia personal con + the thing.

[vintagesymphony]

Yeah, that, or it's more polite form Cuénteme por favor su experiencia personal con + the thing.

Oh thanks so much! That's a really good way to put it.

[Gordafarin2]

I keep thinking about this question, because I'm native English and I would have interpreted "Can I count on you to..." in the same way as your Spanish speakers do! Maybe it's clearer in the context of your script, but to me that phrase is asking me to commit to doing the action at a later date.

"Can I count on you to vote for candidate X?" Yes - I'll vote on election day, I won't submit my ballot right this minute.
"Can I count on you for your help on this project?" Yes, I'll help when the moment arises, but not right now.

What's the nuance you are trying to convey when you phrase it "Can I count on you to share your story" instead of "Could you/Would you please share your story"?

[Gundelangues]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum! I'm making calls in both English and Spanish as part of my job, and one of the questions we ask is "Can I count on you to share your personal story about ___". When I ask it in English, people usually start going into their story right away, but when I ask in Spanish "¿Puedo contar con que compartirá su historia personal sobre ___" they say "sí" and then don't say anything. Should my prompt be more "Puedes decir un par de frases sobre ___" or "cuando esté listo, por favor dígame un par de frases sobre ___"? Thanks for your help!

Heh, this is actually kind of a joke for us. "Could you tell me your name" "¿Puedes decirme tu nombre?" Sí, and then we don't say it Just think about it, you are asking about our ability to say something, and of course we can do it! If you want to be more precise, you can say "¿Me dice su nombre, por favor?", or in your case I would explain what you are doing and then ask for the info "Estamos recopilando historias personales por X motivos...¿Me cuenta la suya, por favor?"
I hope this helps you

[vintagesymphony]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum! I'm making calls in both English and Spanish as part of my job, and one of the questions we ask is "Can I count on you to share your personal story about ___". When I ask it in English, people usually start going into their story right away, but when I ask in Spanish "¿Puedo contar con que compartirá su historia personal sobre ___" they say "sí" and then don't say anything. Should my prompt be more "Puedes decir un par de frases sobre ___" or "cuando esté listo, por favor dígame un par de frases sobre ___"? Thanks for your help!

Heh, this is actually kind of a joke for us. "Could you tell me your name" "¿Puedes decirme tu nombre?" Sí, and then we don't say it Just think about it, you are asking about our ability to say something, and of course we can do it! If you want to be more precise, you can say "¿Me dice su nombre, por favor?", or in your case I would explain what you are doing and then ask for the info "Estamos recopilando historias personales por X motivos...¿Me cuenta la suya, por favor?"
I hope this helps you

Yeah it does for sure. I think in the script they phrase it that way "count on" because they want the people to feel like they're part of the team, but in Spanish, it does just what you said. The command form that you said instead, but in the usted tense, has been working a lot better.

[tarvos]

And another one bites the dust due to overly literal translations