人は話し方が9割 (people are 90% how they talk) is a Japanese book written by Nagamatsu Shigehisa about tips on talking better. In the Japanese sense, “talking” includes everything from speeches to discussions to conversations to more. In this book, the author focuses on how to have conversations and interact with people in our daily lives, perhaps the most important and useful type of talking. Some of the main tips in the books that I found most useful were: prepare a set of response phrases and remember them; talk about food/origin/pets; make a list of mistakes. Because I sometimes struggle with keeping the conversation going, especially with new people I meet, I plan to follow this advice to facilitate social interaction. Other tips were sometimes more of a way to think about conversations, such as not gossiping. Some others were ideas I was already somewhat aware of, and thus clarified or reconfirmed them. Overall, I found this book really helpful and enjoyed learning more about practical, real-world social skills! I plan to read more of Nagamatsu’s books soon, since he wrote other similar books.
A pretty average book on conversational Japanese. Not as comprehensive as other conversation books, but very short and easy to read, so didn't spend too much time on it.