Communication Expert Values Gibran Uses Foreign Terms During Debates To Look Smart

Gibran Rakabuming during the vice presidential debate

JAKARTA - Candidate for vice president number 02, Gibran Rakabuming Raka is in the spotlight in the vice presidential debate because he uses foreign terms when asking other vice presidential candidates.

One of the terms that became a concern was when Gibran asked the vice presidential candidate number 01, Muhaimin Iskandar about the State of Global Islamic Economy (SGIE).

Political Communications Expert from the Regional Development Study Center (PKPD), Wahyuningsih Subekti said there were two things that Gibran could observe in the vice presidential debate, namely regarding the appearance and use of words, as well as foreign terms.

Regarding appearance, Wahyuningsih assessed Gibran in an over confidence situation. He tried to seem to control the field asked by the panelist even though the answer was conveyed even though he didn't actually answer the question.

With his convincing style, intonation of the speech tone and regulated rhythm, Gibran also impressed that he controlled the material.

"But the fact is that they don't listen to the message from a panelist question. Even questions raised to other vice presidential candidates, in session 3, tend not to be in the corridor of the theme according to the direction of the moderator of the debate event," said Wahyuningsih in an official statement, Monday, December 25.

Then, Wahyuningsih said that the use of words and terms that were not commonly heard by the public in general was also interesting. For example, Carbon Capture and Storage and SGIE.

In fact, he said that what must be considered in this case is actually the selection of words that are easily understood by the Indonesian people in general, not only by a group of elites and academics.

Giving an initial narrative before entering the question can also make it easier for people to understand what they want to question, not directly to questions and use foreign words or terms.

"So what is needed from a leader for the future, among others, is to be an active listener, listen carefully to the messages conveyed by the interlocutor, understand deeply what is the subject of the problem and provide answers that are in accordance with the problems faced," he said.

Wahyuningsih added that having expertise as a Code Switcher, understanding how to choose the right terms or words to convey to his interlocutors in what contexts is also very important so that they do not seem to test and bring down their interlocutors.

"Leaders in the future will not only prioritize Impression Building. Building a good impression in front of the audience, especially Generation Z who really puts 'Dewa' foreign terms, so it is considered that he is smart,' he said.

"A person will be considered smart if he can convey something that is difficult to understand by all audiences. On the other hand, the impression that arises is only arrogance and arrogance," said Wahyuningsih.