Public Speaking - a Progressive’s parable

Public speaking: the art or process of making speeches before an audience.

Progressive: one that is interested in new ideas, findings, or opportunities, one believing in moderate political change and improvement in the common good thru governmental action

Parable: a simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Toastmasters: a non-profit educational organization that has been teaching public speaking and leadership skills since 1924, with 11,500 clubs in 92 countries. Toast is not involved. Nor is toasting, though I could get into that!

Once upon a time there were a few people in my community who were so upset about the election, and re-election (inconceivable!) of the Current Occupant of the Oval Office that we decided something had to be done. We believed that our own people had had their asses handed to them on a platter because the Republicans had figured out how to talk to voters much more effectively than we did.

(We strongly suspected it was all a pack of lies concocted by Orwellian geniuses like Karl Rove and Frank Luntz, but still, the voters fell for it.).

We had read a book by linguist George Lakoff, Don’t Think of an Elephant, which for the first time explained what had happened, and what progressives like us had to do to get back in the game (and it did NOT involve lying or Orwellian machinations).

We got together about 50 like-minded souls and explored these new ideas in a series of workshops. But we still didn’t feel confident at speaking out.

So 25 of us created a new Toastmasters club where we could practice public speaking about such touchy subjects as politics and moral values (from a progressive perspective) on a weekly basis.

Our club just celebrated its 3^rd anniversary, and we’ve learned how to speak effectively about difficult topics. We’ve graduated many competent communicators, gotten members elected to public office, made deep friendships. Now we’re floundering a bit – a victim of our success, even.

Suddenly the worm has turned. Republicans are on the run everywhere! It’s not just that progressives all across the country are better at communicating what we stand for; it’s that the conservative agenda imploded because it was ill-conceived to begin with and Americans are finally realizing it.

The fight to restore our democracy and save the planet has just begun, though. We need fresh foot soldiers to carry the message, share action plans, and make sure the good guys get elected.

If you’d like to be able to communicate your values more effectively in this crucial election season, consider joining a Toastmasters club near you.

Paul Hawken in Portland

Paul Hawken spoke here a couple of nights ago about the ideas in his book Blessed Unrest – which is about the hundreds of thousands of social and environmental justice groups he found around the world who are each in their own way trying to make the world a better place. His latest project/organization, Wiser Earth, catalogs them with aim of helping groups find each other.

He was joined at this event by the writers Barry Lopez and Rebecca Solnit.

Solnit made the point that perhaps we should thank George Bush for totally breaking the system – he’s wrecked the economy, the military, our reputation, our environmental controls, our constitution…. For starters.

“It’s time for the grownups to take over,” she said. People who care about each other and the world are waking up and starting to do positive things to fill the void. Unfortunately we (in the little groups) suffer from low self-esteem and don’t recognize our power and potential.

She has a broad definition of what constitutes an activist. A kindergarten teacher, a person who brings soup to a sick neighbor. The most interesting politics is not happening at the federal level, she says, but in the cities and towns and states who are taking issues into their own hands. The more functional a government (like Sweden) the less people are inclined to pay attention to the outside world.

Lopez said we’re in deep water (I’d have called it deep shit), living in a world of bandaids, a world where we’ve sacrificed community for avaricious gain. How can we rebuild community when we live in 4000 sq ft homes with fitness and entertainment centers built in? How can you create relationships if you never leave home?

Hawken said the planet is a giant organism with a life of its own, like our bodies. Just because there’s no big boss in charge of these groups doesn’t mean they’re not doing good work. “Do we have to tell our lungs to breathe? Our blood to flow? Our lymphocytes to attack a bacteria?”

Final Points: Commerce is not a bad thing; trading is a human enterprise since the dawn of time. Corporate immunity is the issue. There’s no such thing as “alternative” energy. All energy comes from the sun.