The human voice is a profoundly potent instrument in and of itself, fully apart from the question of communication. Some languages lend themselves to its use more than others. French and English are two that have strong reputations here. Less well-known in the West in this regard is Arabic. But there is an old saying that the genius of the Chinese is in the inventiveness of their hands, of the French in the creativity of their minds, and of the Arabs in the expressiveness of their language.
One of my favorite stories about this has to do with an Arab explaining to a Westerner how great was the orator he had heard speak, a true master of this intricate language, who had kept his audience captivated with his eloquence for hours. “Wonderful,” said the Westerner. “What was he talking about?” “Well, to tell the truth,” replied the Arab, “I don’t remember, but it was fascinating.”
Fascinating. This speaker undoubtedly did have something to say, but instead of communicating, he wound up fascinating.
The problem becomes particularly acute when that imbalanced outcome is intentional. And it’s not new. The Roman consul and orator Pliny the Younger unhappily noted a new practice of walking around while delivering addresses, asking one such speaker how many miles he had declaimed that day.
Pliny might be absolutely distraught at how some of today’s budding orators are being advised. For example, an unfortunate recent piece in a major business publication entices readers to be as inspirational as the American presidential candidate, Barack Obama, by focusing on strictly technical rhetorical, physical, and vocal devices.
Another such piece published today offers as an example of “best practice” a movie clip depicting a character’s preparation for an important speech. She meticulously rehearses every detail of tone, diction, breathing, and feigned emotion and recovery of determination. If you can’t fascinate, manipulate.
Sadly, neither of these items offer a word about the message, the audience, and the speaker’s duty to understand both in order to connect the one to the other.
The old sales adage that you sell the sizzle, not the steak refers to making that connection. But today, too many people take it to mean that you can sell the sizzle instead of the steak.
Rhetoric and style can give a message range, but it can’t take its place, and it can’t make it fly to begin with. The keys to successful public speaking are to have something to say, and to understand - or, at least, appreciate - who you are saying it to.
Take your inspiration from that; you likely will find that your audience will, as well.
—
Today’s tip: Speaking of mistaking delivery for communication, please see this post by Alex Tabarrok, on Marginal Revolutions about the persistent problem of (sometimes willfully) confusing correlation for causation.
—
More and more readers are viewing the new mobile-friendly version of the Managing Leadership Blog on their internet-capable phones and pocket computers, and you can, too! Just use the “Get Mobile Version” link at the upper right of this page to have the address sent to your device or, for those of you reading this in your email client or RSS reader, go to http://fdm8.com/managingleadership to view the site (you can visit it right here from your computer to get an idea of what it will look like on your portable device).
If you enjoy this way of accessing this site, you can sign up for text alerts (of new posts) to your phone simply by enrolling your number in the mobile subscription link, also at upper right on the sidebar of the main page. Why not try it now!
And if you prefer to continue viewing the site on your regular computer, then please do subscribe by email or RSS reader, so you’ll always get the latest posts!
Similar Posts:
Technorati Tags: communication, French, English, West, Arabic, genius, Chinese, audience, eloquence, Roman, Pliny, business, inspiration, American, Barack Obama, best practice, speech, message, audience, Rhetoric, public speaking, Alex Tabarrok, correlation, causation
Sphere: Related Content
ON DECK
4 Comments
Hi Jim,
Great public speaking is a lot like art: it stirs emotion. Ambivalence is death. Unlike art, great public speaking is also meant to move an audience to action: a new thought, a new direction, a new bit of information.
The combination of delivery, diction, content, timing, and knowing the auidience are what constitutes a good presentation. There is a fair amount of room to mix these: not all need to be great. In fact, should any one significantly outshine the rest, the ensuing gap detracts from the message.
Hi Joe,
Actually, I don’t dispute this, as long as the art has something to say to us. The combination you speak of can create something truly sublime; in fact, the absence of one or even more elements can still resonate through the ages (Lincoln, for example, had an awful speaking voice) - but if the missing element is meaning, what you have is a cobbling together of pretentious, even presumptious, showmanship, but no show.
The sort of advice for would-be sizzling speakers that I referred to in the post seems, to me, like the prescriptions given to would-be leaders by so many - its all about you or how you can persuade others to perceive you, but nothing about the reason you’re there.
As long as that sort of advice prevails - and, it must be said, is sought out - then we will continue to meet with disappointment manifesting at various points (not necessarily at the source) in our organizations.
But if, as you say, we have the sense to weave that advice into our sense of content and context - well, then, it’s true, we’ve got something.
Thanks for making and emphasizing the connection - and, as always, for your visits and your own writing and work!
Wonderful post, Jim. My father taught preaching one of his rules (besides “very few souls saved after fifteen minutes”) was that if your parishioners complimented you on your speech, you were not doing a good job. But when they commented on your message you were doing well indeed.
This is nothing new. Consider “When Aeschines speaks they say, ‘How well he speaks.’ When Demosthenes speaks they say, ‘Let us march against Philip.’”
Wally, I love these quotes from your father. And the one about Demosthenes is a classic, a really perfect example of the point - thanks!
And thanks as well for your visit and kind words.
Post a Comment