Nuance

I remember a number of years ago watching the late actor Paul Newman giving an interview on television in which he talked about the importance of nuance. If one is talking and about to end their remarks with a loud outburst, then for it to be effective, they should not be yelling the entire time they are talking. Rather, they should build up to it, Newman said. This struck me - and still does - as a valuable piece of advice when it comes to communicating effectively. Nuance shoiuld be a go-to tool in anyone's communication toolbox. Without it, particularly as it applies to verbal communication, one becomes far less interesting. Like most folks, I have sat through a great many speeches in my life. This includes my many years as a student in which I had to listen to my teachers do their best to gain and keep my interest in their topic. On the flip side, I have also given a number of speeches, both as a teacher and in other roles. Paticularly in the latter part of my career, I tried to follow Newman's advice for several key reasons: to hold the interest of my audience but also do justice to my subject matter. Even now, I like to think whatever I was talking about had value and was worthy of bringing to the attention of others. Given those reasons, my responsiblility was to doing the best I could to serve the topic. This calls for having respect for the topic and the audience. The best communicators carry within them these feelings. While I am in no way placing myself in such a category as that, nevertheless it is a value I always tried to maintain. Nuance allows one to use shading and various inflections in how they are speaking. Done well, this serves as a strong signal to audience members that which is most significant in your remarks. It also makes your presentation more interesting and raises the level of potential impact it will have.