Speaking

Shakespeare once said that brevity is the soul of wit. If this post were to be witty, it would be over by now. I'm not going to do that. Nope. Instead, you get a post about discussion etiquette.

Inspired by one of my friends, I have taken up the practice of never sending one-word texts. The funny thing about language is that it usually takes more than one word to convey an intelligible sentence, let alone a meaningful one. Our word choice betrays much of our personality. If you have spent any time around me, it will be evident that I'm well aware of this. To offer my own evaluation, the way I speak is a fairly straightforward one. I try to convey my message, but at the same time, tinge every sentence with a bit of flavor, a slice of irony. It doesn't matter if I'm addressing my parents, my teachers, or my live studio audience, my voice remains the same. I try to use the voice the Blarney Stone granted me to attempt conveying my thoughts in the most effective way possible. I've got a few rules I hold to when speaking, most of which I've already touched on in this piece. The rest of this post will be me expounding on them:

1) Don't be brief

We've already touched enough on this one.

2) Don't be long-winded

Almost as harmful as being brief, saying too much is another speaking pitfall I attempt to jump over at any opportunity. Nothing loses a crowd like drowning them in supplementary material.

3) Always censor your thoughts

One of the things that drives me crazy are those who have no filter separating their brain from their mouth. There's a reason that our brain isn't broadcast for the world to hear: it says a ton of stupid things.

4) Never censor the way you expound on them.

One thing I consider to be a strength of mine when I speak. Regardless of my audience, my diction remains rather constant. If you have to change to fit your audience, your voice isn't good enough.

5) Always speak with a hint of humor

The most sure fire way to engage a crowd is to make sure that they have something worth listening to. Whether I speak as an orator or as a disgruntled student, I want my audience to know that I want them to be entertained.

Following my own tip #2, I'm done.



Peace out, readers.