A Study of Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s Speaking Style in 2020: Listener-Oriented or Speaker-Oriented?

Abstract

Generally speaking, politicians sometimes communicate in a manner that may be considered untrue or even inappropriate in various political situations. One reason for this is the simple but crucial fact that politicians often talk in a manner that is excessively focused on themselves rather than on their listeners. Political officials, it seems, really enjoy talking about what they plan to do and accomplish during their tenure, but less so about what the general public really wants to hear. Speaking more about themselves and less about their constituents, demonstrates that many politicians are clearly speaker-oriented and not listener-oriented. Japan’s former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is an example of a politician who often uses a speaker-oriented approach. Through the lens of speaker versus listener orientation, this paper examines Abe’s speaking style in various contexts, including Abe’s comments during several political scandals, as well as Abe’s speeches to constituents and global audiences. By studying Abe’s communication style, we find that politicians may maximize their effectiveness when they orient their speech to listeners, instead of focusing on themselves. The primary data for this study comes from the National Diet Session documentation files provided by the Japanese government, as well as major newspaper articles. Keywords: Japan, listener-oriented, solidarity, speaker-oriented, speech orientation