I have a theory that the first purpose of public speech<\/a> is to warn a community of imminent danger.<\/p>\n

For instance, in the animal world, vervet monkeys have three distinct cries for eagle, snake and leopard. Beavers signal danger with a slap of the tail on the surface of the water. And there is a difference between a dog\u2019s everyday bark and one that is laced with fear and aggression when something goes bump in the night.<\/p>\n

In our own human community, our leaders cry out against the dangers of a foreign foe, of economic inequality, government intrusion, or abortion\u2014take your pick. And in business, we do our SWOT analyses and generate strategies to protect our market share, our price point, our bottom line.<\/p>\n

The experience of seeing danger and yelling at the top of your lungs to save self, family, and friends generates anxiety and adrenalin\u2014in fact, it requires anxiety and adrenalin. The voice (or in the beaver\u2019s case, the tail) must communicate<\/a> emotional arousal. It must electrify one\u2019s neighbors\u2014enough to take action\u2014to run, fly, leap, hide, or in our less dramatic case, vote.<\/p>\n

It is highly unlikely that a vervet monkey, sitting at the top of a tree and seeing an eagle dive with talons outstretched, is cool as a cucumber. He is more likely to be red-lining, and his blood chemistry is most likely flooded with the neuro-chemicals of a soldier in battle. He needs the terror in his blood, because he must send out a cry that will strike terror in the hearts of his comrades. And of course, if he\u2019s at the top of the tree keeping watch, he\u2019s the most exposed to the outstretched talons.<\/p>\n

When we choose to speak in public<\/a>, we step into a pool of primitive impulses and instincts, such as the lust for power and status, the need for attention, the desire to belong, and the need to be recognized by our peers.<\/p>\n

But these are not the origins of public speech<\/a>. These are the pollutants in the pool. I believe that the original, pure purpose of public speech was to cry out, in a voice as loud and passionate as possible, about a danger that threatens self, family and friends.<\/p>\n

And to do that effectively requires adrenalin, terror, and panic. In short, it requires stage fright<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a theory that the first purpose of public speech is to warn a community of imminent danger. For instance, in the animal world, vervet monkeys have three distinct cries for eagle, snake and leopard. Beavers signal danger with a slap of the tail on the surface of the water. And there is a… Read More »What good is stage fright?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[331],"yoast_head":"\n