Should you choose to take it, the road to success, high office, and power leads us all to the frightening slopes of public speaking—the number one fear in America.
Since the last election, we’ve seen an increased respect for the power of rhetoric, thanks to the reputation our current President earned on the campaign trail. Even his enemies concede his power as a speaker. Last night he took off the gloves, and got to his “make-my-day” moment: the upcoming election is going to be a doozy.
The president, as all of us would be, seemed a little short on saliva last night. He had dry mouth syndrome, which means his nerves were acting up. There were, after all, hundreds of people within shouting distance who hate his guts.
But he got some things off his chest. He has tried to gain the respect and cooperation of his own party, and that of his opponents, but so far, it’s been a rough road, and it’s not likely to get smoother.
The process by which public speech moves people to action is complex and mysterious, but it has something to do with lighting up neurons in our brains that want to be lit up. Public speaking is as old as our species, fresh as wet ink on newsprint, and as personal as your private business.
Public speech is personal because while it trumpets big ideas and values, it comes from the mouth of one person and goes deep into your own private intellectual and emotional synapses. You can reject it, or you can open yourself to it, but when it comes from someone you believe in, someone you trust, it’s going to take root in you, and swim in your blood stream.
So let the war of words begin. Game on! Let those who cheer for one leader enjoy their champion landing blows on the ideas and values dear to others. And let all of us, rich and poor, give thanks that it will be a war of words, and not a war of bullets.
And then, after giving thanks for our democracy, let’s hope and pray that it’s a war of reasoned, thoughtful words and not a war of slogans, clichés, and bullet-points.