Verbalization begins with listening to yourself
When I heard the word "verbalization," I initially thought of speaking well or writing in an easy-to-understand way.
Organizing what is in my head so that it can be conveyed to others. Turning vague thoughts into clean sentences. I tended to think of it as a kind of "power to put things out."
But after reading Toshiya Araki's “How to Verbalize Your Thoughts.” my perspective changed.
The core of this book is not about coming up with clever words right away, but first listening to your own story.
It is about accepting the discomfort and emotions within yourself and gradually putting them into words.
This resonated with me the most.
Trying to listen to what is inside you for a moment
In this book, the process of putting thoughts into words is written in the steps of accumulate ⇒ listen ⇒ summarize.
STEP 1: Make a note of events that moved you and what you felt at that time.
STEP 2: Ask yourself, "Why is that?" regarding those notes.
STEP 3: And finally, write your own conclusion as it stands now in one line.
Reading this flow, it was an eye-opener to learn that verbalization is not a "task of neatly organizing thoughts," but a "task of listening to what is happening inside you and putting it into words."
If you just write out your fuzziness, it might end up as just venting emotions. Adding "Why is that?" to it means going to see what you were hung up on.
For example, suppose you feel like you "can't make good materials" at work. Instead of ending it there, try asking, "Why can't I make good materials?"
Then, I realized that it wasn't a problem of writing expression, but that I hadn't confirmed within myself, "What is the purpose of making the materials?" "Who are the materials for?" and "How much do I need to write?" in the first place.
It wasn't that I couldn't write, but that I hadn't listened
I had a realization about this.
Previously, I had packed various information into materials, thinking I shouldn't be lacking in explanation. Since I wrote it in detail, I thought I had made it carefully myself.
But looking at it later, although there was a lot of information, the core was weak. It wasn't clear "what I wanted to convey with this material in the end."
Of course, it is important to confirm what the other party is looking for. However, before that, I think I hadn't been listening to myself either.
What do I want to convey in this document? What should I keep, and what should I cut? What do I want the reader to take away after finishing it?
Of course, it is also important to check with the person who needs the information.
However, if you write without asking yourself first... you will unfortunately end up with a triple whammy of failure.
The text becomes long.
Just because you write a lot doesn't mean it gets across.
In fact, because your thoughts aren't organized, you just end up with a flood of information.
This is the same when writing a note.
You read a book and think, 'That was good.' You feel, 'This is important' at work. You think, 'Something is bothering me' in your daily life.
But if you start writing just like that, this is what happens:
The focus of the article becomes blurred halfway through.
The text is just well-structured.
If you haven't listened to your own inner voice, when you read it back, you'll wonder, 'So, what was I trying to say?'
Listen to your own voice before polishing
Recently, if you use ChatGPT, you can get your text polished quite nicely. It is truly convenient for fixing phrasing and organizing structure.
However, even if you polish it while the underlying idea remains vague, you will feel that it is 'clean, but not my own writing.'
That is likely not an AI problem, but rather because we haven't listened to our own thoughts yet.
What caught my attention? Why did that bother me? What is the one line I want to say right now?
Just by asking those questions and organizing them first, the shape of the resulting text changes. It feels like digging up the raw material of your thoughts before turning them into polished words.
That said, writing in a notebook every day and digging deep into your inner self—honestly, it's difficult to keep that up.
There are busy days, and there are days when you are tired. There are also days when you don't have the capacity to listen to yourself.
That is why I think it is fine to start small.
Pick just one vague event. Add "Why is that?" to it. Write down the thoughts that come up as your current conclusion in just one line.
That is something you could try even after work or before writing a note.
Verbalization does not begin with speaking well.
It begins with first listening to the thoughts and discomfort within yourself.
If you try to speak well without listening to yourself first, your words will likely just run ahead on their own.
So first, listen to yourself.
After reading this book, I decided to start there.
Related Articles
I feel that the theme of "listening to your own story" this time is similar to writing for work.
If you like, please take a look at these articles as well.
"What is written" and "being able to act" are different things
The reason explanations and procedures don't get across lies in "design" rather than writing ability
Magazine
In this magazine, I am gradually verbalizing insights gained from reading and feelings experienced at work such as "not getting across," "cannot write," or "cannot put into words well."
▶ Verbalization of reading and work