Reasons to Speak

I have been questioning lately why exactly I feel a deep need to speak to a lot of people at once, in public. Maybe even with a microphone. The one thing that most people fear is something that I crave more than chocolate. Speaking shares moods. If other people know how we feel about something, the isolation fades.  

I have always been a talker. Just ask my parents. But I used to also be quite shy. This chatty habit used to stop when in big groups at school or when mingling at a party. The problem is the small talk. I actually used to struggle when conversing about little trivialities. Then if you asked me about something I felt passionately about, a thought-out rant would leave you wondering where that little shy girl went. All of a sudden a strong opinionated human being would appear out of nowhere to take her place.

Every so often, something happens that I will feel overwhelmingly enthusiastic about. Ready to make a change and break away, in the words of Kelly Clarkson. The driving issue could be the way people treat each other. The way the government is spending our hard earned taxes. The universal problem of motivation. I love writing or talking about motivation because it drives us. It's something I usually lack but will chase down until I get it. When something comes to my attention, there is usually a benefit from other people noticing it too. There needs to be an outlet for all these issues because they will bottle up in my mind. They get crammed in like train commuters at peak hour. These ideas and thoughts need to get out.

Blogging is one way to release these thoughts and ideas, but there is less interactivity. Of course readers or audiences will always have the option to give feedback, but most of us feel reluctant to publicly share our opinions on what someone else has said. I completely understand that.

Getting back to speaking, there is a unique instant feedback during a speech. You can read on the audience's faces how they feel about what you are saying. A simple smile can tell you, "I'm listening. I'm interested." There is no wait for someone to hit a 'send' button, so it's more instant than the blogospohere. We can instantly tweak what we say to boost the mood or impact of the message. There is a reassurance that people understand and accept what we are saying. We are being heard.

That listening has amazing consequences. The Iron Lady brought us into a world where Margaret Thatcher talked, and people listened. Whether people liked the result or not, her words had consequences. Margaret trusted that her decisions were right. The movie showed her initially facing disasterous situations as she made choices. But she spoke of standing firm in consistent beliefs, for a better long term future. Margaret spoke to people with authority because someone had to take control. That is powerful.  I can't help but look up to her - not necessarily politically, but as a person.

Also, there is a type of person in the world who is just innately vocal. Singers are the same. They process and understand the world by singing about it. Actors share their experiences with us through vocally showing us. Their interactions include monologues to vent and explain. My piano has occasionally taken on the same role. My parents used to say you know I'm in a bad mood when the playing is really good. My tiny hands will force the keys into a simple message of chord after chord, the hammers slamming the strings to reverberate throughout the whole house. Speaking does the same thing. It proclaims. It changes moods. 

 
Maybe it appears as though I take this whole speaking thing very seriously. But let's put it this way. What if your way to vent was through journal or diary writing, and then someone said you could not write any more journal entries ever again? We all do something to unwind - be it chatting with a friend or focusing our efforts on hobbies. I only started enjoying speaking in the last couple of years. It was after getting past the 'How do I do this?' that I started answering the 'Why do I do this?' The consequence became addictive. To share moods with like-minded individuals. Martin Luther King had a dream about the world. And for now, I need to have a dream about my little bubble of a world as much as everyone else's. Maybe I’m still figuring out what that dream is. But you will hear about it along the way.