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Communicating What Is Needed, When It Is Needed

YOSHIDA, Takara (Akashi National College of Technology)

Please think about this question: Are you good at communicating? Or not? Now you are imagining communication ability. What is it like? Is it about making an atmosphere pleasant with humor? Being good at speaking in public? Or talking with anyone enjoyably? My answer is this: Communication ability is the ability to tell and listen to what is needed, when it is needed. In communication, the important thing is to tell those in your company what you want to tell exactly and also to understand what your company wants to tell you exactly. However, it seems that when we think about those who have good communication ability, it is thought that the talkative person has an excellent level of communication ability, but the quiet person does not. This is just as if to say that the person who can have a pleasant chat with a stranger is superior, but the person who can't is inferior. This is simply not true.

Allow me to prove this point by sharing with you something that happened to me. When I was little, I was a person of few words and not a good talker at all. When I was talking with someone outside of my family and close friends, I didn't know what to say, and I just sat there like a bump on a log. As that was often the case, I never thought about speaking in public. I didn't even hope to come to be able to do so. However, an unforgettable time came when I was in the fourth grade. I came to serve as class leader. Of course, I didn't try out for this post on my own free will. I was recommended for it. You might think, “Why did you accept? You should have refused such a post.” But I couldn't refuse. It didn't mean I was in the situation where they would not let me refuse. I just couldn't say the words “NO. I don't want to do it.” So, what I mean is I was such a shy boy who couldn't tell his opinion that I couldn't refuse what I didn't want to do. Then, my task began. I was afraid that I could not complete it, but unexpectedly, I could speak in front of students in the classroom. I truly needed to do so, and I knew what to say because of preparedness. In the process of repeating my role in front of the class many times, I got used to it and my hesitation was gone. Moreover, when I had a conversation, which was such a weak point of mine, I came to tell what I wanted gradually. After that, when I was a junior high school student, I served as a school leader again. So, I spoke in front of all of the students in my school and also took part in a discussion with students from other schools. And now, I have appeared on this great stage, making a speech with my wish to tell my opinion to all of you.

So, once more, the point I want to get across through sharing these experiences is that the important thing in communication is to tell what is needed, when it is needed. This concept is also important to grasp with respect to listening. In conversations, we are apt to regard giving our opinion as important and listening is often overlooked, but it is the most basic necessity in communication. Communication starts from listening above all. When we listen and understand, it leads to opportunities to express what is necessary more appropriately.

To this day, I still have never thought I would become talkative. Nevertheless, I have come to be able to tell what I should tell and I want to tell more than before. In a word, whether you are usually talkative or not is a matter of personality determined by nature. However, telling what is needed, when it is needed depends solely on effort. Communication does not need fancy techniques, but simplicity.

Someday we will all go out into the world for study or work, following the flow of the times. We will all have to widen our sphere of activity to various places in the world. Communicating and understanding other people from other countries and from different cultures is still more difficult than negotiating among Japanese. The ability to communicate with people smoothly without misunderstanding will be regarded as more and more important in the future. But, whoever you have in your company, first listen to his or her voice very well and understand what he or she wants to tell. Then, even if you are shy, you should try to tell your opinion with courage.

So, what do you think? Are you good at communicating? Are you ready to step out into the world and speak? Prove it to yourself by making conversation with someone next to you, with a stranger, with people from all over the world; and, stay focused on what is needed when it is needed. This is the message from shy and introverted me.