Persuasive speech (edited version)

“Handle them carefully,
for words have more power than atom bombs.”
Pearl Strachan Hurd

Words. How can such mere things have any power? That’s ridiculous, isn’t it? But what if everyone in the world could hear or see what you say to people, would people still like you? Would you still like you? Just think about it. You use a great deal of words every day without thinking of the “rightness” of your speech. Does it really matter to be accurate with the words you use in your everyday speech? Is there any reason to do that?

People speak a lot every day and not all of us think about what to say and how to do that in a better way. But there are people, who made using words their profession. Yes, I’m talking about writers. Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but who express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions.

This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style.

I believe that writers are the most accurate persons in language sphere. They know that their books are full of energy. A lot of them spend a lot of time for choosing the right title to their books, trying to choose the best variant. Book titles are important: along with the cover, they’re one of the first things we notice when we pick up a novel. 

Here are some examples of their hard work on titles.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires; Gold-Hatted Gatsby; On the Road to West Egg; Trimalchio in West Egg; Under the Red, White, and Blue; The High-Bouncing Lover.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 

Her working title was Atticus (the name of one of the main characters in this book).

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

Tolstoy’s original title translated to “All’s Well That Ends Well,”.

These names which are in our minds sound better, don’t they? That’s why such books touch our hearts, because every word matters.

Well, authors know a lot about this huge importance of being accurate with words, but what about other people? Honestly, I was amazed by the fact that there are a lot of experiments based on this topic. All of them prove that words really can heal or destroy. Let me show you the most popular experiment which made me involved in this theme. Dr. Masaru Emoto, the Japanese scientist who revolutionized the idea that our thoughts and intentions impact the physical realm, is one of the most important water researchers the world has known.

See the following water crystal photographs from Dr. Emoto’s work. Each water crystal you see was exposed to the word it has written next to it prior to being photographed. 

His research also showed us how polluted and toxic water, when exposed to prayer and intention can be altered and restored to beautifully formed geometric crystals found in clean, healthy water.

If water is affected by the words, intentions, and energies, what about human beings, who are made of mostly water?

And everybody knows the answer, because everyone in this room was inspired by some words and disappointed by others. You are the part of the prove that words can help, heal, inspire and it also can hurt, broke hearts, hope and dreams. These situations are ordinary in our society, they happen every day around us. But don’t you want to live in the world where people would be nice to each other?

I’d like to show you one great social experiment from the YouTube. The student set up her camera and explained to people that she was taking a portrait for her art project but was secretly filming them. She told them they were beautiful. The message she wants to get across is that it is not about how people react to being called beautiful but how others can take the time to bring some positivity to someone else’s life!

Did you see those beautiful reactions? I almost cried when I saw it in the first time. Well, now you can see that words have their magic power (even water feels it!). Be accurate and attentive with words you say. YOU have the power to bring someone from his or her darkest times and make a successful person out of him or destroy someone’s happiness using only your words. If everybody will keep this thought in mind, the humanity will be much happier. “Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.” Pearl Strachan Hurd

Thank you!