I did mention that I'm telling them what I "think/interpret" them to be saying, while obviously being open to other alternatives.
In other words, I'm not saying "Hey, you are thinking this and that's that! Don't try to tell me otherwise!". Indeed, that would be arrogant. What I'm saying is "Hey, from what I've seen of you thus far, it seems likely that this is probably what you're thinking in these particular regards. Are you?" Of course, the question and the answer can be expressed vocally or/and more indirectly, through non-verbal means.
Personally, I don't care about how people see me and I'm always myself when interacting with anyone, as I consider honesty to be one of the more advanced forms of genuine, natural respect towards both one's self and others. While some people have been put off by this (which is their freedom, by the way), I've also met people whom I would call genuine companions. However, that was more of a welcome side effect, but making close acquaintances wasn't ever my interest.
Anyway, why wait for an answer to come straight from their mouths? I mean, yeah, they can be honest about their thoughts, but there are also situations where one might either try to be manipulative or/and maybe not know themselves well enough. Regardless of any interpretations' level of accuracy, it's still a nice way to exercise the analytical parts of the mind (whichever level of mind we might be talking about).