..... of tongues

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) has always been impressed by people with eloquence. People who can think aloud on their feet. In the old days of the Overhead Projector, Y S observed that many ill prepared and not so eloquent or not knowledgeable lecturers loved to flash and recite from transparency to transparency. The poor students, well, they copied and copied, racing for time before the next transparency was flashed.

Things have not changed much. In the days of PPSMI ( When the teaching of Science and Mathematics was done in the English Language in Malaysia) teachers with lower or no competency in the English Language clicked from slide to slide on the Power Point, and read and read on the LCD. Again the poor pupils copied and copied. ( No wonder our schools produce so many copycats. LOL) Remove all these modern high tech equipment, these lecturers and teachers may not be able to utter a coherent paragraph.

Talking and eloquence are not the same thing: to speak, and to speak well, are two things. A fool may talk, but the wise man speaks.

Some speak far too much that they need such introduction when called to speak, " Our speaker needs no introduction, just an early conclusion." Some lack in depth, so they give you in length.
Some keeps repeating like an old worn out VCD.

A good speech is like a mini skirt: short enough to be interesting, but long enough to cover the essentials.

The best rule for talking is the one carpenters use: measure twice, saw once.

Y S has observed some good meaning friends who simply talk too much, take causative swipes at everything, throwing in idiotic wit on everything they say, and all the time assuming that they have an audience to entertain, and finally get themselves into unnecessary trouble. Those who talk too much usually do not have the patience to listen at all and for not listening, they could even be repeating what you have just said, or worst still, if they ever agree with you, they somehow still have to paraphrase what you say . LOL

Wise men talk when they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." Plato. As we all know, mere talking is cheap because the supply has already exceeded the demand.

The tongue being in a wet place is prone to slip and get its owner into tight places. Weighing so little and yet few people can hold their tongues. And the worst of all men is he whose tongue is mightier than his mind. Some cannot help having dentures ( false teeth), but everyone can have a true tongue. So, those who put his tongue in motion should be sure his brain is in gear.

" Nature has given to men one tongue, but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak." Epictetus. This is the advice Y S kept giving to his students in school. Blessed are those who listen, for they shall learn.