Loitering one day in my office I decided to look for words that denigrate styles of speech. I found 84 words that did just that.
For example, “That guy is a blabber mouth.”
The next day I looked for words describing positive styles of speaking.
I found 49 words. For example, “She is a powerful, stirring speaker.”
Does this mean there are more bad speakers than good?
I am afraid so. Public speaking challenges most of us, intellectually, emotionally, and physically. It’s not a job for the faint of heart. It can be a fearful moment when it’s your turn to talk.
But why is the garden of denigrating words so much larger (and colorful, I might add) than the flowers of praise?
Why would we conjure up words dripping with negativity more than we would find words to describe the efforts of people who are trying to do their best?
Could it be that some of us enjoy mocking performers who fail to meet expectations, because they themselves are afraid of speaking?
Could they be throwing mud pies of contempt because they know in their hearts they don’t have the skill, the courage, or the knowledge to develop and deliver a highly effective talk?
In fact, I believe 74% of Americans are afraid of speaking in public, and they resent the fact that they can’t do it. It’s too scary.
Let me show you some of the words I found that people use to denigrate speakers:
Gabby
Mouthy
Yappy
Babble
Blather
Of course these words are highly expressive and colorful. They are shouted from the side lines, launched into a crowd, and they express contempt–one of the most damaging emotions that humans have ever concocted.
At my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary, I was giving what I thought was a really funny toast, when one of my father’s friends, deep in his cups, was shouting, “That’s ridiculous, that’s absurd!”
Lucky someone got him to stop, and of course it was relatively harmless, but it rankled my Dad no end, so much that he wrote me a letter of apology.
Words fly through the air and land on us like droplets of virus. I write this while we are still deep in the pandemic and approaching the November elections.
Remember Low Energy Jeb, or Little Marco. Mini Mike, Sleepy Joe, Crazy Bernie, Pocahontas, Shifty Schiff, Crooked Hillary, Mr. Magoo?
Colorful, aren’t they? Lots of fun! But when you get right down to it, it is highly destructive.
Lefties, righties, or middle of the roadies, the lesson is the same. Words matter. Speakers deserve fair play. You don’t attack the person, you attack her ideas.
Kent Russell wrote In The Atlantic: The truth is not out there waiting to be objectively uncovered. The truth is made. Facts can be fabricated as seen fit by the powers that be, and then consent for those facts can be manufactured and enforced.
We need to find the right words, the words that lead us to the truth.