Style Matters
The Grasshopper offered a profound piece of wisdom the other day: “It doesn’t matter if you’re right if you present it wrong.”
We’re all making cases for something in our daily lives, but how often do we lack the sensory acuity to notice that the jury is asleep during our closing argument?
Presenting something “wrong” simply means your message isn’t getting through, even though it may be factually correct.
Take the run-up to the recent election as an example. I have Facebook friends on both sides of the political spectrum who have posted vile pronouncements against the candidate they didn’t want to win. Yes, there may have been a kernel of truth in some of their messages but it got crushed by the weight of their hate. The bigger problem they have is this: What they are tone deaf to is that all of their demeaning reflects directly on them. They get tarred with the same brush they slather their salaciousness with.
For instance, sarcasm works for comedians and, properly placed, it can be a spice in human communication. If, however, it’s the main meal, it causes heartburn for everyone.
Your message is wrong when it doesn’t get through, and if it’s presented with malice, it reflects back on you. You may want to appear as passionate for your cause but what you project is that you’re a person filled with hate.
You may want to justify that hate by finding a group of people who agree with you and you form a club where you club everything you’re against. The problem is you don’t take your club to bed with you. You’re alone with your hate and it doesn’t feel great.
Outgrowing your hatred is a topic for another posting. My main message here is this: Sharing your hate doesn’t make it go away, and even worse, it puts your worse side on display.
All the best,
John
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