★ Over 100,000 copies sold in Korea. Complex Chinese rights sold.
★ A speech class for adults from a former presidential speechwriter, Won-guk Kang, who spent eight years crafting the words of two South Korean presidents. This book collects the most popular episodes from his KBS radio program, offering practical wisdom on how to speak with dignity, clarity, and warmth.
★ Words are character, and words are life. Kang argues that without correcting poor speech habits, we end up living by them. Our bodies may age, but our words can remain stuck in our twenties or thirties. This book guides readers through seven chapters of reflection and practice, covering listening, respect, persuasion, workplace communication, and daily growth. A foundational text for lifelong speech study.
★ For readers of self-help, communication, and leadership. Kang is the bestselling author of Writing for the President (over 500,000 copies sold). This revised edition features new manuscripts, a specially curated handwriting note of key quotes, and a fresh cover design. Ideal for publishers seeking practical, culturally rich self-improvement content from a proven Korean author.

What does it mean to speak like an adult? In an age where adults often sound anything but, Won-guk Kang argues that speech is character, and character is life. Bad speech habits create bad lives; good habits create good ones.

Organized into seven chapters, the book moves from self-reflection to mutual respect, from flexible listening to firm responding, from emptying one's words to filling conversations, from workplace essentials to ethical persuasion. Each chapter offers concrete tools: the six methods for changing one's speech habits, the five enemies of verbal clarity, the three preparations and three cautions for public speaking, and the art of strategic reporting tailored to different superiors.

Kang's core insight is simple yet profound: the brain cannot distinguish imagination from reality. When you speak, your brain treats those words as fact and shapes your world accordingly. Change your words, change your thoughts. Change your thoughts, change your actions. Change your actions, change your habits. Change your habits, change your reality.

Won-guk Kang (강원국)
Writer and lecturer. He crafted speeches and writings for presidents and corporate chairmen for nearly 25 years. At Daewoo Group, he wrote for the chairman; at the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae), he served as administrative officer and then speech secretary, penning words for Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. After turning fifty, he published his first book under his own name for the first time, The President's Writing, which became a bestseller. He has since published multiple bestsellers on writing and speaking, including The President's Writing, Kang Won-guk's Life Studies, I Write as I Speak, Kang Won-guk's Writing, Learning About People Again, Kang Won-guk's Book Writing Class, and How to Speak Like a Grown-Up.

Foreword: Standing on My Own Two Feet as an Adult
Prologue: A World Full of Words, Yet So Few Worth Saying

Chapter 1: Looking at Myself in the Mirror of Words
Chapter 2: Respecting and Being Respected Like an Adult
Chapter 3: Listening Flexibly, Answering Firmly
Chapter 4: Emptying My Words, Filling the Conversation
Chapter 5: Never Losing Sight of Work's True Nature
Chapter 6: Persuading with Interest, Not Position
Chapter 7: Living a Life Better Than Words

Epilogue: The Study of Words Has No Period