Is it what we say, or is it how we say it?

I guess the obvious answer is “how we say it”. I guess most people assume that what really matters is how we deliver the message we have, how we say what we want to say. This basically implies that as long as you know how to say what you want to say, your message will get through – if you don’t, it won’t. This seems rather reasonable in the social context we live every day, but I think that this kind of reasoning can go incredibly wrong.

First of all, we have the people that have the right messages but the wrong delivery system. I have noticed this particular problem very often. People know what they want to say, they have incredibly good points, but are clueless about actually making those points. What is actually frustrating when this happens is that their opinions go unnoticed – they’re discredited from the start just because they don’t have the proper delivery for their points.

Society tends to be especially critical of people who don’t express themselves properly. This is a shame because most times, exactly the best idea can be the one that is not even considered. Of course, if the delivery is a total mess and nobody can actually understand what the one who’s talking is saying, it’s reasonable enough that his or her point will not be considered. But when the one who’s speaking is just not like-able, or not calm enough, or not funny enough – I believe the problem is with the audience, since it can’t separate someone’s way of talking from that person’s main idea.

Second of all, we have those with amazing delivery systems, yet poor ideas and opinions. What happens in those cases is… people are convinced merely because what they heard sounded good, not because it actually was good. When someone who speaks well and knows how to get his opinions considered, no matter how bad they actually are, is compared with someone who has trouble expressing himself even though his ideas are amazing, the first one will always receive more credit.

This happens exactly because we tend to judge ideas by how they are presented, and by who they are presented, instead of judging ideas by their potential benefits and by the reasoning behind them. I do believe that the world would be a better place if we could properly see the difference between a good speaker and a good thinker.

Yet, at the end of the day, it’s close to impossible for something like this to happen. Our opinions will always be judged by how we present them. And because of this, we must keep in mind two things. Firstly, we need to learn how to get our ideas through. Secondly, if someone can’t do that, it doesn’t mean he or she has a bad idea.

Articol scris de Raluca-Ioana Vacaru (11B)

Posted in: Think different