Eloquence of speech is more effective than brilliance of thought

About Sripriya:

Sripriya is passionate about writing and is also a voracious reader. She loves to paint and is adept at various forms of art. She has a senior diploma in Kathak and also plays the synthesizer.

______________________________________________________________________

Thousands of people are born everyday in this huge, wide world. However, everyone is unique in his or her own special way. There is a different talent bestowed upon each individual. Across the globe, people come up with brilliant ideas and thoughts but they are considered to be insignificant in this vast ocean of people. And so, I often wonder why some people achieve more fame and glory than others.

To express my dilemma in the form of a metaphor – artists are defined as people who creatively express their emotions and thoughts in the form of art, for instance by painting. An individual whose profession or hobby is not related to art could have come up with the same idea but only we are left unaware of it and all the credit and appreciation goes to the person who expressed it out on a canvas.

This leads me to think if the same can be said to be true about our words and ideas in other fields. If our life is perceived to be the canvas from the above example, it can also be said that in order to achieve success one has to express one’s own opinion clearly. One must idolise people like the great Mahatma Gandhi of India, Nelson Mandela of Africa and many such people who expressed their views in life without the fear of being defeated and rather were able to convince people to be supportive of themselves. Can you imagine what the future of these countries would be like if great men like them did not put their views and ideas out there? By their powerful speeches they were able to connect with and reach the minds of millions. As a brilliant man once said – “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Now the question arises: how is this possible? In all probability the answer lies in the art of convincingly sharing one’s thoughts with others.

To elucidate this further – eloquence with charisma, stature, presence and gravity of mind is what defines an impressive speech. Eloquent speeches need not be only for special occasions but it is any time anything is said with confidence, ease, simplicity and the right content. We are mostly conditioned to believe that what is correct has to be complex, but that, in fact, is not true. What must make an impact should indeed be conveyed with utmost simplicity. Most of the takeaways from any such gatherings and rallies are the ones that are conveyed simply and are able to convey the thought behind the expression. Eloquence can simply be said to be the art of conveying a rather difficult message to a person through a simple message.

In school, I have many times been in a situation where I have found myself paying more attention to a particular subject just because of the way the teacher explained it. The same subject when taught by another teacher didn’t seem to be as interesting as it did before. Maybe both the teachers were thinking the same thing while teaching but the one who managed to express her thoughts in a better way was more successful in creating a lasting impression.

However, having said all of the above I also feel that sometimes silent mouths are worth a million words. It is said that words are mightier than swords and occasionally we may end up saying things which may hurt the other person tremendously. Just because a person is silent doesn’t mean he has no message to convey. Sometimes our actions and facial expressions also manage to convey meanings which we would have otherwise struggled to put across using words.

One must be intelligent and mindful in analysing the situation to choose between the power of eloquence of speech or the might of silence to be able to communicate one’s message. Eloquence of speech is truly powerful but sometimes even through means of writing and print media one can communicate in a very impactful way. By reading the autobiographies and write ups about great people, one often gets inspired to be the change in society and work towards getting the change.

In the end I would like to quote a famous saying – “To talk well and eloquently is a very great art, but that an equally great one is to know the right moment to stop.”