a presentation of Graham Tritt
to Toastmasters Berne, 8 September 1997

This material is my personal invention and does not reflect any professional or public opinion of Toastmasters, any employer, or any other organisation with which I am connected.  Please note that it is in the nature of Toastmasters, while working to build their presentation skills, to present opinions which they may not necessarily hold.

Copyright Graham Tritt (1996).  May not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Introduction
In the words of Chuang Tzu:

Snares are used to catch game.
Once you have caught the rabbit,
you don't need the snare any more.

Fish-traps are used to catch fish.
Once you have the fish,
you don't need the net.

Words are used to catch ideas.
Once you have the idea,
you can throw the word away.

Oh how I wish I knew someone
who had thrown all his words away,
so I could talk to him about ideas.

And especially when traveling in foreign lands, words don't come easy ...

Structure
I'm first going to talk about words,
then I will try to encourage you to do away with words.

As you follow me in my presentation,
I'm going to lead you, my tour party, off the expressway of words.
We will follow the country roads, they are much prettier, and follow the by-ways.
We will leave our comfortable vehicles and walk together along the
path to a new panorama from the mountain top.

Come out of your artificial skin of a machine,
feel the warmth of the sunshine and the surprise of a bird.
I'll guide you up a mountain path to open your eyes to new vistas.

1. Words
Everyone in the world knows what a bicycle is.
When you think about one, do you use the word? Or do you see an image?

If I say Fahrrad or velo, do you see the same image?  Of course.
Do you need to translate the word?  No way.  (It makes a big difference when teaching languages)

People don't think just in words.
Can you remember dreaming in pictures?
Does a certain smell remind you of an event long ago?
Do you have to think in words about how to hit a tennis ball,
or to layout flowers in your garden?

Does music move you? Classical, or techno beat - even move you to switch it off?
Most of the time we don't think in words.

Though we are educated, we are still animals.  We feel, taste, smell, and see.
Body language, for instance, gives us information much faster than words can.
90% of the information we take in is non-verbal.
As animals, our senses cause direct effects in the brain - we don't need words!

We don't need to use words or symbols, until we want to separate a happening from a message about it.
If I am walking into a rock, I would rather that someone tells me, than find out the hard way!
But when we choose words - are we sure that others know them the same way?

In our schools, we learn many concepts, and sets of ideas.
We learn many terms and put them in show-cases.
These preconceptions come from others  - we can do nothing about it -
we don't even know if the rest of the world understands then the same way.
So we absorb a view of the world colored and blurred by the glass we are looking through.

On our path we will meet false friends -
as long as we rely on words, we will be mis-led.
And as speaking and reading are slower than thinking,
we should plan to use the idle cycles of our brains.

2: Symbols
You don't see the word "speed limit" on highway signs any more.
Because we now use standard symbols -
thousands are now part of a common, even multi-cultural, linguistic heritage.
In every special field, terms have meanings much more far-reaching than the words they consist of.  Roger, 10-40, good buddy.

We also use common words to specify abstract concepts, things we cannot see or do.
Therein lies a danger:
My box labelled "beautiful" may not contain the same yours.  We should have "Angst".

Just because spoken linguage is incomplete and inexact, so we have conversations -
to get agreement on meaning.
But with the written word, the problem remains, also, I might add, with presentations.

3: Pictures
Words are just one type of symbol, and a photo is worth a thousand words.
I find it a joy when a friend builds pictures in her letters.

As well as thousands of pictorial symbols from hundreds of areas of use, we now also have
acronyms, icons, smileys or emoticons, and avatars.
:-( sad
8-) surprised and happy
%-/ drunk
=|:<) Uncle Sam

The tyranny of the typewriter (and the teacher) has lasted too long.
The fax is much more friendly than the electronic mail.

But we have a ways to go.  Word-processors are killing creativity.
It is still too hard to find the exact image you want, and paste it into a document,
and be sure that the reader gets it.
If we were only taught caricature at school instead of spelling,
we'd be much better communicators.

So symbols take us along our road faster than words.

Is it your intention to describe every stone in your path?
or to lead past them, in your journey up the mountain to the promised land?

4: Metaphors
Metaphors and similes make words come alive.

Instead of one, straight, grey highway, we can see many roads, and the scenery too.
As we drive, our mind springs from side to side - to the fields, the hills, the towns.
Leave that dull technical highway, and take the country road.
Instead of a lazy ride, walk and feel the finds of metaphors

You may come round a corner and a new panorama opens.
Your partners may see a bird and follow it in spirit,
or smell a flower, planted by the wayside.

Two tricks of the trade for mountain guides.

First, don't mix your metaphors, or your followers may
stumble from the true path and be tossed into the stormy waters of confusion.

Second, avoid slang and idiom.  Keep your group together,
and walk at the speed of the slowest.
Some paths are not suitable for all the members of your party.

The rainbow colors of colloquial language are ephemeral
and another person may be following a different rainbow.

Keep to the known paths.
Everyone in the world knows the warmth of the sun,
the gnawing of hunger, the depths of despair; and we can
use these similes without getting into quicksand or falling into a pit of snakes.

5: Association
Association is like when you bring your friends and relations along for the ride.
Taking advantage of the way our minds work, is the most powerful - and dangerous - way to
change a boring drive into a picturesque walk.

By using association, you give your followers the chance to travel their own paths,
to point out new sights which you yourself did not even see.
Instead of being bored by a straight road and symbols,
they become active, alive, fresh.  Thinking as you walk, to each his own.

But there are pitfalls!
Association is even more dangerous than metaphors and slang!

Someone who follows the wrong path may drown in the depths of his imagination.
Someone who rushes ahead is in equal danger.

You must stop periodically, to see if anyone is missing from your party.
Anyone who strays too far from your path - call him back!
And call a pause for all the group to catch up.  Are you still with me?

6: Poetry
A thousand tricky turns of text,
symbols, similes and subtle sidetracks,
paths to take the idle mind.
Mind which way the tide breaks.

Poetry brings the most meaning and effect per line, the most bang for your buck.

And poetry is multicultural: the associations depend not on words
but on common human experiences, on situations.

In your travels of communication,
you will meet rocks of misunderstanding,
but there will always be a path round them.
Your challenge is to sprinkle your path
with flowers, and crumbs of cake,
and readers and listeners will enjoy following you.

In conclusion,
I appeal to you,
to write your technical reports
and business letters like poetry.

To build your own paths with symbols and not with words.
To communicate with ideas and not with letters and numbers.
To add pictures and metaphors and mix it well together.

If you don't, you tread your language into a dull flat path,
boring to drive or march, and aimless.

Use symbols, images, and poetry,
and with you, the listener will wander a mountain path where
flowers, birds and mountains brighten up his walk.

Don't be afraid.

Copyright Graham Tritt (1996).  May not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the author.
This will be normally granted - apply to graham_tritt@hotmail.com

Graham Tritt is the author of "Council of Ethics" (1988), a one-hour play on the topic of social responsibility in software engineering.  A software developer faces charges by his employers, by a consumer protection advocate and by a state attorney, that he failed to consider public interest in the production of a voice-controlled vacuum cleaner.  The audience participates as the jury, deciding on guilt or innocence regarding the somewhat unusual charges.  The play has been produced at numerous technical and legal conferences and has been translated into German and Italian.

Graham Tritt, Postfach 495, 3000 Berne 25, Switzerland.