Friday, August 06, 2004

  • Lately I've been very sensitive to improving the way I communicate. George Orwell wrote an excellent essay called "Politics and the English Language".  He stresses the need to stop using extra words and unnecessary phrases. I especially appreciate his point that we use metaphors and phrases over and over until we bleed them dry of meaning. Those metaphors and phrases fill space rather than grab your attention. Their use should be discontinued for fresh, original ones that actually contain true meaning. Orwell also writes to never use the passive tense when the active is acceptable, and to never use a long or foreign word if a short one will do. I suggest you look up the essay somewhere if you get the chance.

    Secondly, I was reminded of how easy it is for us to be "sloppy" when we talk. I have won trophies in speech and debate.  Not as many as my brother, who would always edge me out for the last trophy, SOL. But I disliked using all the "tricks" I learned during competition in everyday conversation. It feels like I'm manipulating my listeners. So I went the other way and have become a little difficult to follow. A friend kindly reminded me of what makes for good speaking skills, and I added some of my own:

    * Enunciation and leaving out "filler" phrases such as "like" "uh-huh" and "you know"

    * Pausing and speaking slowly

    * Definite beginning, middle, and end to every story, paragraph, and sentence

    * Leaving out unnecessary parts of stories or suddenly making a chronological story into a topical one

    * Paying close attention to the audience. Ask them questions and for their opinion to draw them into the message.

    So I will now start making my eyes large, moving my hands in mesmerizing, open-handed, away from the body fashion, speaking in sound bites, and making culturally relevant comparisons and analogies to add some zest to my cornuccopia of mental desserts. I'll also type with more of a flourish--more dancing on the keys and less pounding. SOL just kidding. Anyway all that to say...

    Right now, what matters to me is that people understand what I have to say and evaluate it for what it is. We all have to fight perceptions and biases every day as we communicate our messages. We also have to fight our own inability to make sense to anyone not named Jesus Christ. Some of my early entries were written very lucidly and vividly on this page; and yet those words really didn't edify anyone. (Edify means build up in the context I am using here).

    Sounds selfish and bitter, doesn't it? I'm redeemable (thanks to the aforementioned Jesus Christ!). And so are you  What is even more important, in the eyes of God and (eventually) me, is that when I communicate, I tell the right people the right message. I can have a fabulous truth to communicate: "Go to any National City bank at midnight, knock twice loudly and then once softly, and someone will push a grand under the door. It only works once, though." SOL But if I don't tell the right person, no one will ever go get mugged by my sidekick, err,  get the $1000 waiting for them.

    I need to have ears to hear. Without them, I will miss the great truths waiting just for me, hidden in a world of lies. Or I can just have a funny story to tell; but if I don't think about how to make it funny for the other person rather than just to make myself laugh, they won't get the joke. (Subscriber X, you know it!) There's times we need to talk for just us, and should just please ourselves. This is especially true if we have some sadness or burdens in our lives. But those times occur less often than we pretend they do.

    All this to say, in the future, I hope to do an even better job of communicating some fun and some truth on this site and in my everyday life. And the more you, my regular audience, speak up and show up, the more I can figure out how I can help you grow (Hebrews 10:23-25). It goes both ways; several of you are teaching me a lot! I truly am thankful for you. So let's not get discouraged when people don't understand us. Back to the scratch paper and the pew, and we'll be understood and make people's lives better yet!!!

Comments (5)

  • woagh, that was deep, i almost drowned :D, i need humor and local news, thanks

  • Well, I thought that was very good...as usual.  Not enough people write posts that I am willing to at least attempt to read all the way through.  I not only attempt to read yours, I usually make it all the way through and get something out of it too:)
  • Nicely done.  So, the pontificator has decided to relax his speaking, eh?  ok ok j/k j/k, I just had to get that in there.  But you're right.  Sometimes I feel like I am saying the same thing to the same people and all I ever do is change my phraseology and throw in some spicy adjectives.  And how true it is that I always tend to be procaliming my own agenda and not using my words to reach out.  My compliments on a well done posting.  *leave to think*
  • SOL dAAAAAn, I leave the local news and humor to you for a reason. I can't do it as well as you and Nick do, so I just leave it to the best!

  • I've, like, tried, to speak a bit more clearly than I do right now, but, um, it seems to me that that's kinda like locking the barn after the horse is stolen, ya know? It's pretty crazy. 'Cause, like, when I try to speak, um, more, um, clearly, I just mess up *pause* more, ya know? Wow. I'm out like the fat chick in dodgeball.

    M-to the-I-to-the-C-to-the-H-to-the-A-to-the-E-to-the-L

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