Audible Review of 'How People Who Always Make a Good Impression Talk' | A Day When My Way of Speaking Softened a Little

▼ The book I listened to this time
Audible version of 'How People Who Always Make a Good Impression Talk'

The morning at the quiet general store
begins with the owner wiping the shelves.

A small plate in the same spot as yesterday.
A handkerchief that hasn't moved since last week.
A picture book moved just a little bit forward.

Even though they are all items that haven't sold,
when rearranged,
the shop looks as if it has breathed a little life back into it.

Puku was on the chair by the window,
neatly aligning its front paws.

"Shall we do our best in moderation today, too?"

When I said that,
Puku narrowed its eyes.

Was I encouraging it?
Or was I telling it not to expect too much?

Probably the latter.

The owner gave a wry smile,
and tidied up the small box next to the register.

The book that stayed in my ears yesterday

That morning,
the words from the Audible book I had been listening to yesterday lingered in the shopkeeper's ears.

“How People Who Always Seem Pleasant Speak”

Broadly speaking, it is a book about how to talk.

However, what I thought while listening was that
perhaps it is not so much a book for learning to speak well,
but rather a book for paying a little more attention to how one speaks,
that was it.

“Pass me that.”

Even if I say that, the meaning is conveyed.

But,
“Could you pass me that?”
just by saying that, the way the other person receives it changes a little.

It is only a little.

However,
there are days when I skip that little bit,
too.

Days when I am in a hurry.
Days when I am tired.
Days when my head is full of my own affairs.

Even without any ill intent,
sometimes just the way I say things rolls out ahead of me.

A moment with the delivery person

Before noon, the delivery person arrived.

Usually,
I think I would have said,
“Please put it there.”

It is not a bad way to say it, really.

But on that day,
I changed the way I said things just a little bit.

“Excuse me, could you please place it over there?”

The delivery person
said, “Yes,” and placed the package as usual.

Nothing changed dramatically.
The shop didn't suddenly become busy either.

However,
my own feelings after saying it
were just a little lighter.

I managed not to let out
a sharp way of speaking.

Just because of that,
I felt like the atmosphere in the shop during the morning became a little softer.

Puku's sense of distance

As for Puku,
he didn't go near the package box,
but watched it intently from a distance.

He's curious.
But he doesn't move right away.

First he observes,
waits a little,
and then approaches if he feels like it.

Puku always
knows his own distance well.

Perhaps conversations with people
should really be like that too.

You don't have to reply immediately.
It's okay to wait a little while.

In that time,
the sharp edges of your words might soften.

In the afternoon, someone came to look at the back of the shelves

In the afternoon, a regular customer from the neighborhood peeked into the shop.

"Anything new in?"

"Just a little, but I've lined some up on the back shelf."

The shopkeeper paused for a moment there.

And then,
continued a little more slowly than usual.

"Please feel free to take a look if you'd like"

Perhaps,
I had said similar things before.

But that day,
I felt like I was able to say it with the intention of truly handing it over to the other person.

The shopkeeper suddenly thought.

Words, too,
might be a little like merchandise.

If you hand them over roughly,
even the contents look sloppy.

If you hand them over carefully,
even if it's nothing special,
it looks a little more valuable.

The items lined up in this shop,
none of them are expensive.

Even so, the shopkeeper,
wants to line them up as properly as possible.

Take a breath, just a little.

You don't have to say anything impressive.
You don't have to give a witty reply.

At the very least,
try not to let the sound of your own haste
hit the other person directly.

That much,
might be something this shopkeeper can manage on some days.

Every day is impossible.

On days when I'm in a hurry,
my voice inevitably sounds hurried.

On days when I'm tired,
my tone becomes rougher than I intended.

Those days happen. I am human, after all.

It would be easy if I could just sit there silently and pleasantly like Puku,
but unfortunately for this shopkeeper,
there are days when I have to offer thanks, make requests, and give excuses.

So, at the very least,
I try not to just lash out.

Especially on days when I'm in a hurry,
I try to take a breath, just a little.

Thinking this,
the shopkeeper looked over the shelves one more time before closing.

Puku was on the chair by the window,
eyes half-closed.

The shopkeeper did okay today.
That is what their face seemed to say.

A book that stayed in my ears today

Audible version of
'How People Who Always Seem Pleasant Speak'

While Puku was dozing by the window,
I listened to it bit by bit between minding the shop.

After finishing it,
I feel like my usual "please"
has become a little softer.

Well, by tomorrow,
I might be back to my usual shopkeeper self.

← Previous Table of Contents Next →

▼ 'Cafune' Audible Review

▼ 'Monthly Income' Audible Review

▼ 'Tsubaki Stationery Store' Audible Review

▼ 'How People Who Always Seem Pleasant Speak' Audible Review

▼ 'A Hitman's Sales Techniques' Audible Review

▼ 'My Husband's Girlfriend' Audible Review

▼ 'Revenge is Legal' Audible Review

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