719. Advice to A Budding Speaker

Many speakers spoke commending the young speaker, who delivered a maiden speech in the event.

Bard Senthilnathan, the last person to speak in the event, said, "Orators will receive many offers to speak in various events and functions. But, a budding orator should not accept all the offers. He should accept only those assignments, which involve speaking in an assembly of learned people, or people keen on listening to the speaker. If he gets a chance to speak in a forum comprising stupid or petty minded people, he should summarily reject it. This is the advice I would like to offer to any budding speaker."

After the event had got over, Gokul, a long-time associate of Senthilnathan, asked him, "Senthil, I was surprised by the advice you gave to budding speakers. Don't you think that only if a budding speaker makes use of all the opportunities that comes his way, he would be able to earn name and fame?"

"That was my idea when I was young. I accepted all kinds of speaking opportunities offered to me. But, I realized that speaking in an assembly of people not interested in listening to the speech had only made me depressed. Subsequently, I began to avoid speaking in forums or assemblies that would largely be composed of people with no interest in listening to the speakers."

"What kinds of audience responses would make a speaker feel depressed?"

"An audience with interest in listening to the speaker would listen to the speech earnestly, by paying attention to the speaker's words. Even if they didn't find the speech interesting, they would keep listening to the speech quietly, by way of showing their courtesy to the speaker. On the other hand, an audience, largely made of people with no intention to listen to the speaker, would openly display their lack of interest, through face expressions, gestures and other actions. They would raise both their arms, lock their palms and release them, as if they were trying to convey their boredom to the speaker! They would keep shifting their sitting positions, even without moving out of their chairs. They would engage themselves in whispering conversations with their neighbours. Some would do this, even while looking at the speaker through the corner of their eyes. Some would talk to their neighbours and laugh, as if sharing a joke, even while looking at the speaker straight in his eyes, clearly communicating a message to the speaker, 'you carry on. I have more interesting things to do, than listening to your speech!' Above all, some would do things diverting the attention of others, preventing others from listening to the speech, in the process. Now, in the cellphone era, they could resort to more creative speeches, to disrupt the speaker!"

"Were a renowned speaker like you also subjected to such experiences?" asked Gokul, with dismay.

"Gokul! The examples I gave just now were the experiences I had during my speech events!" said Senthilnathan, laughing. 

"This is surprising to me. I have invited yo to speak in many events organized by me. You politely declined some assignments, citing a health problem, or some other reason. Was your unwillingness to speak in an assembly of certain types of people the real reason for your doing so?"

"Gokul! You are my friend" said Senthilnathan, smiling. 

He didn't have the heart to tell his friend, 'Gokul! Most of the incidents narrated by me happened in the meetings organized by you!' 

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 72
Knowing Your Audience

Verse 719 (in Tamil):
pul avaiyuL pochchAndhum sollaRka nal avaiyuL
nangu salach cholluvAr.

Meaning:

Those who can speak lucidly in a learned forum,

should refrain from speaking in an unworthy forum, even by mistake.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'iLam pEcchchAlarukku oru aRivuRai' by the same author.) 

Verse 720 (Soon)
Verse 718