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Articulate: Good Morning

A morning commute in Boston can make one lose all faith in Humanity.

From the careless bumping of bodies on the T to the wanton disregard for the other humans moving through space, it can make you a wee bit homicidal.

Take this tidbit from my morning commute. A woman approaches me from behind with something along the lines of, “Being an accomplice to murder is a crime.” Certain that I have misheard her I said, “Pardon?” and she repeated the same cryptic message. I have no idea. Perhaps something about me reading a text while waiting for the light at a crosswalk implicated me in a murder? All I could think to say was, “Good Morning ” (Not my snazziest comeback).

I kept thinking about it, not because her message had any particular impact but because of its utter futility. If in fact, she has a cause so important to her that she must accost strangers, how was that comment, in particular, going to progress her point of view? Given how confusing I found it, not at all. She was this morning’s equivalent of a guy holding a sign stating, “The end of the world is nigh.”

I notice that many of us are doing this. Shooting off one-line missives on and offline, perhaps believing that you have done something in 140 characters or less. This isn’t communication, it is broadcasting.

The spoken word has the power to physically move people as air molecules travel around and through tissue. It is a shame to waste this opportunity to actually connect. The articulation of speech is mechanics, sure, but mechanics in pursuit of meaning. The intention must come first and it must be clear.

Gina Razón is the principal voice specialist at GROW Voice LLC, a full-service voice and speech studio in Boston’s Back Bay.  She has over 16 years of experience both as a teacher of voice and speech, and a voraciously curious voice user.  Gina has worked professionally as a classical singer for over a decade and more recently as a professional public speaker.  For more information on the studio or to book Gina visit www.growvoice.com.

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