Responsible Communication

Being able to communicate well is a gift. Whether it comes naturally or with practice and coaching, to be able to connect with an audience in person, in writing, on camera or with your voice on radio, is no small thing. You talk and people actually listen to what you say and how you say it. They are moved. Your words cause them to rethink their own lives, ideas, and perspectives. Perhaps they are even persuaded to take action. In our day-to-day lives, how often does this happen? At least for me, not often.

Yet there are those who do communicate in a manner that is movingly convincing. As listeners we are touched. Perhaps this happens because of the communicator's wealth of knowledge, the circumstances under which they are communicating, or because of the position the communicator holds that causes listeners to sit up and take note. A connection occurs and for that time, the communicator is in a position of power because they are holding sway over those who are listening to them. For the communicator, of course, this is a nice position in which to be. This position, however, does not come free. To paraphrase a line from any one of the movies featuring Spiderman - or was it one of the ones with Superman? - with great power comes great responsibility.

Any time a person is given or has power thrust upon them, they are saddled with the choice of what to do with it: Do good? Bring out the best in those to whom you are communicating? Mislead? Manipulate listeners to suit your own agenda? The choices are many. The responsibility is all-consuming. I look at the many campaign speeches being given these days by our presidential and vice presidential candidates and wonder how responsible they are being with their gift to communicate well. When those to whom you are speaking are moved to scream chants of "kill 'em" and "traitor" about other candidates, then the communicator is not being responsible at all. They are using their gifts for all the wrong reasons and need to be rejected. If a person abuses such a fundamental gift as communication, then can they trusted in any other part of their lives such as political office?