At the recent Communities in Control Conference, at which I
was filming, the second question raised at the Our say Panel session was about
the importance of oral communication and language skills – it was:
"One in 14 children in Australia is born without the capacity to gain,
understand or use language. Without intervention they face a drastic future, so
much so that 50% of youth offenders in this country have a serious oral
language deficiency. Why, as a nation, are we not tackling the challenges that
these children present us with?"
Stephen Mayne in response to the question highlighted the
importance of Oratory skills, citing Barack Obama as the most obvious recent
example of someone whose oratory skills has been crucial to their success. Click here to see the You Tube video of this
But while
I agree with the importance of oral communication skills I think we often miss the other side of the
coin on this issue – there will always
be people who for one reason or another are worse at communicating than others.
We need to not only train people to have better oratory
skills, but also, and more importantly, train people to listen to those who don’t
have oratory skills - they often have something worthwhile to say, and
sometimes the have things to say that are absolutely critical, that we need to
hear for the good of ourselves and more importantly our society as a whole.
Sometimes the most powerful oratory can consist a very few
words and a lot of silence for people to understand their meaning. I am
reminded that Lincoln’s Gettysburg address lasted just over two
minutes.
Even shorter were Jesus’ words when faced with an angry
self-righteous crowd hefting rocks – “Let he among you who is without sin cast
the first stone” – and then he sat down and drew in the dirt letting the
silence that followed speak even more powerfully.
And now for a poem.......
Black Hole Reflection
Is
belief more than
The
filtering process of the mind
Faith
is an insubstantial whisper
Louder
and stronger
Than
the greatest ocean
Faster
than the swiftest comet
Hurling
through space
Carrying
all our destinies
A
plug for the black hole
At
the core of our being
That
we only recognize
In
the contrast
Of
the brilliance behind
Star
stuff are we
Every
molecule of our being
Born
in a furnace
Hurled
through the endless void
Forever
and a day
Until
it ended up
Here
and now
And
we don’t think that’s a miracle?
It’s
the filtering process of the mind
There
are some things we can’t handle
So
we break them down
Into
molecules and atoms and strings
And
rearrange this dust
Back
into us
By
the process of random chance
But
who are we kidding?
There’s
still a black hole
At
the core of our being
That
we see only by reflection
Of
star stuff
And
no matter how hard
We
ignore it
It’s
shape
Can
only be described as
God
