Page 50 - Between One and Many The Art and Science of Public Speaking

Chapter 1 Practical Speaking 17

Take a close look at the lithograph by M. C. Escher on
this page. Though it appears at fi rst glance that the water
is running downhill, a more careful examination tells you
that this is impossible because the water is fl owing con-
tinuously. Escher was able to create “impossible illusions”
by taking advantage of our perceptual predispositions.
We assume that the perspective in this print is an accu-
rate representation of reality, when, of course, it cannot be
so. When people look at an ambiguous stimulus such as
this picture, they automatically look for something famil-
iar . . . something for which they have a preexisting mean-
ing. This helps fool the eye, in this case, into seeing some-
thing that cannot exist.
Again, this tendency to perceive the familiar is both
good and bad from the standpoint of public speaking. It is
good because it enables us to quickly establish a reference
point from which we can plan our own speaking behavior
as well as interpret that of others. It’s bad because it can
blind us to other data that may be even more important to
how we behave and interpret the messages of others.
Consider a cross-cultural example. Direct eye contact
is perceived as a sign of attention and respect in most of This lithograph, Waterfall (1961), by M. C.
North America. Thus, when we give a speech, we use this Escher, creates an “impossible illusion”
knowledge to gauge how our audience is reacting to our by taking advantage of our perceptual
predis positions.
message and delivery. This North American norm, how-
ever, is not universal. Direct eye contact in some cultures,
such as certain Asian societies, is perceived as an aggres-
sive sign of disdain and disrespect.
It’s common, then, for unaware North Americans who speak in one of these
cultures to walk away from the experience with their confi dence severely shaken.
They mistakenly perceive their audience’s lack of eye contact with them as a
sign of disapproval. This mistaken perception, in turn, usually has a negative
infl uence on their entire speaking performance.
As a public speaker, you can never assume that your perceptions of such
things as the context, your audience, or the messages your audience feeds back to
you are foolproof. Just because some person, some place, or some circumstance
strikes you as familiar, that doesn’t necessarily make it so.

Words and Things
9
Finally, public speaking, like other forms of communication, is symbolic. Words
are verbal symbols that we use to describe persons, places, and things. Gestures,
too, can be symbols, as is the case when we wave our hand to signal good-bye or
shake our fi st at someone to signal that we are angry. But they are nonverbal.
Although we deal with the symbolic nature of public speaking at length in
Chapters 10 and 11, we mention it here because you need to understand that
the meaning you attach to the verbal and nonverbal symbols you use to ex-
press yourself may not correspond to the meaning others attach to them. What’s
more, this may be the case even when you think you share a common language.