話し手と聞き手

TED – Melissa Marshall

この TED Talk を見ての感想です.講演の内容は,科学者やエンジニアが非専門家と話す時のアドバイスです.講演は字幕も訳も出ますので,興味がある人は見てみると面白いかもしれません.TED は多言語化がされてるところが親切ですよね.こちらによると講演者の Melissa Marshall さんは,ペンシルバニア州立大学の工学部でコミュニケーションやライティングの講師をしているようです.

内容を勝手に意訳すると「非専門家としては,科学者やエンジニア(専門家)に下記のような点に気を配りながら話して欲しい,そうすればあなたたち(専門家)のやっていることの面白さが伝わりますから」と言うことです.

  1. 聞き手との関連を示す / Show relevance to the audience
  2. 専門用語を避ける / Avoid jargon
  3. ストーリーを話す / Tell stories
  4. 箇条書きを避けて視覚に訴える / Drop bullet points and provide visuals

これらの点はもっともですし,話し手として気をつけたら良いと思う点です.とりわけ我々理系人は素直なので,こういった指摘を受けると「間違いない,我々は直さなくてはいけない!」と自省するものです.

しかし少しひねくれた私は,講演者の主張は,科学者やエンジニア側(話し手)にコミュニケーションの責任を押しつけ過ぎなのではないか,ということが気になってしまいました.話し手が聞き手の理解できるレベルに物事を簡略化・具体化してないから,聞き手が理解できない」という前提が少し一方的なものに感じられるのです.この講演自体は面白いですが,聞き手のあるべき態度について議論がなされていたら,より面白くなったと思います.まあ TED の時間枠の性質上,聞き手側への提案については,本講演の論点ではなかったかもしれないので,もう少し一般的な文脈での問題提起と考えてもらっても構いません.

率直に私見を述べると,簡単に理解できるよう咀嚼したものしか受け入れる気のない聞き手は,聞き手として未熟であり,努力の余地があると考えています.わからないことを質問して,調べて,自分自身のコンテクストとの関連を見つけ出すこと,それらによって自ら理解と興味を深めること,全て聞き手として大事な姿勢だと思います.

実際この年齢になって,理工系に限らない様々な分野で仕事をしている方と話させてもらうと,話についていけなかったりすることも少なくありません.例えば株と債券の違いとかいった,金融分野では普通の知識だって,自分が本当の意味で理解しているか怪しいものです.(だって,化学を勉強していない人には,原子と元素の違いって明白ではないですよね.)そんな色んな物事に対する自分の理解の危うさを理解しているので,例えば,会話の中で馴染みないビジネス用語が出てきたら恥を忍んで聞きますし,複雑な金融や政治の話についていけなければ,後に本を読むなり調べるなりしています.再び同じような会話の機会があれば,次回には会話のエッセンスだけでもついていけるように,と思うからです.

相手に専門用語を使うなだとか,私に馴染みのある例を出しながら話をして欲しい,などと要求したことは一度もありません.新しい分野の話をすぐに理解できるとは思いませんし,的外れな質問をしてしまうことも多いでしょうが,相手に自分のレベルまでさがってもらうことを求めるだけの態度にはならないようにしたいと思うのです.もちろん,相手の気遣いから,例示や簡略化などをして頂くことが多いことも付け加えておきます.私が話についていっていないことを会話の中で察してくれているのだと思いますが,こういった話し手からの気遣いは嬉しいですし,自分もできるようになりたいものです.これは講演にあった通りで,秀逸な話し手としての姿勢だと思います.ちなみに,人文系の専門用語も,理工系の専門用語と同じかそれ以上に難しいと思います.「理工系は専門用語が多くて難しい」と,それ以上学ばない人に限って,政治経済の話だって雰囲気で理解した気になっているだけで,単語レベルでは意味が分かってない場合も多いんじゃないでしょうか.

コミュニケーションの責任は双方にあります.講演者は「Talk nerdy to me(専門的なことを情熱を持って私に話して欲しい)」と言って講演を締めくくりましたが,相手の情熱を引き出すために,聞き手としてどんな態度を示せば良いのか,ということを考えて対話に臨みたいと思った次第です.分野が何であれ「こいつは nerdy に打てば,きちんと響く相手だ」と思われないことには,情熱すら傾けてもらえないですから.

 

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