A speech is something you say so as to distract attention from what you do not say.
Interpretation
A speech can often divert focus from the key points that are intentionally left unspoken.
William Stafford's quote suggests that speeches are crafted not only to convey specific messages but also to obscure certain truths or omissions. The act of speaking can create a distraction that draws attention away from what is not being explicitly stated, highlighting the importance of subtext and the implicit messages behind public discourse.
In practice
In a political debate, a candidate might focus on certain issues while avoiding others.
I keep following this sort of hidden river of my life, you know, whatever the topic or impulse which comes, I follow it along trustingly. And I don't have any sense of its coming to a kind of crescendo, or of its petering out either. It is just going steadily along.
They miss the whisper that runs any day in your mind, "Who are you really, wanderer?"-- and the answer you have to give no matter how dark and cold the world around you is: "Maybe I'm a king.
The things you do not have to say make you rich. Saying things you do not have to say weakens your talk. Hearing things you do not need to hear dulls your hearing. And things you know before you hear them β those are you, those are why you are in the world.
A poem is a serious joke, a truth that has learned jujitsu.
So, the world happens twice--_x000D_ once what we see it as;_x000D_ second it legends itself_x000D_ deep, the way it is.
The earth says have a place, be what that place_x000D_ requires; hear the sound the birds imply_x000D_ and see as deep as ridges go behind_x000D_ each other.
To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.
I've found that good dialogue tells you not only what people are saying or how they're communicating but it tells you a great deal - by dialect and tone, content and circumstance - about the quality of the character.
Persuasive communication involves enthusiasm, animation, audience participation, authenticity and spontaneity.
I don't know what a softball question is. All I know is I have no agenda. I ask short questions, and I listen to the answer.
Language commonly stresses only one side of any interaction.
If we communicated with something like music, we would never be misunderstood, because there is nothing in music to understand...... But until we find this new way of speaking, until we can find a nonapproximate vocabulary, nonsense words are the best thing we've got. Ifactifice is one such word.
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