The current shouting match going in Washington is bad public speaking. Good public speaking begins– literally and figuratively– with civility.
“May it please the court,” says the lawyer.
“Madam Speaker, Vice President So-and-So, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans,” says the President at the State of the Union.
“It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be with you today,” say most commencement speakers.
“May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable to You,” says the preacher, beginning her sermon.
Speeches begin with an elaborate display of good manners because good manners flatter the audience and predispose them to find the speaker and his argument appealing.
So public speech begins—literally—with ritualistic words of respect designed to, at the least, get the audience to lend its collective ear to the speaker.
Later on in the body of the talk, if the speaker is advocating against an opposing point of view, she would be wise to state that view in a fair and balanced way, and acknowledge the legitimacy of it.
Then, without demonizing the values and beliefs that support the opposing view, the speaker can demonstrate why that view is flawed, and hers is better.
In addition to treating the opposing view as reasonable, the speaker should be mindful of her own tone and word choice.
We recognize that being uncivil earns the speaker notoriety, adulation from the partisan crowd, and maybe some emotional catharsis.
But it tends to delay a considered decision made for the public good because it shuts down the other side’s ability and willingness to listen.
In the end, civility gets things done better, cheaper, and faster.