Basic Speech 9: A Creative Fight

(This is initially a speech delivered for the Competent Communicator Manual of Toastmaster International. My Basic Speech 9)

Main objective of Speech 9 is to Persuade With Power — It discusses audience analysis and the different forms of persuasion available to a speaker. The speech should be 5 to 7 minutes.

A CREATIVE FIGHT

I am Mariam Sollano and I graduated Cum Laude in Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines Cebu.

This is the first time I will be speaking about this because in a radical environment, it is a weakness and a sign of betrayal to not take action.

I do not have to elaborate in saying that we are leaving in a developing country – just go out to the streets and look around. Our country is poor compared to Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Japan and the list will go on and on and on. According to foreign eyes, you are poor, I am poor, and we are all poor simply because our country is poor. Because of this we experience discrimination, exploitation and disrespect from other countries. It hurts doesn’t it?

from http://english.sina.com

So what shall we do? Please do not say protest because I had enough of that. Protesting in the form of rallying had its glory days during EDSA 1, perhaps even in EDSA 2 but there is a difference in rallying with hundreds of thousands of people compared to those fifty people who rallied on the streets.

Freedom of Speech is a right. Yes it is, but so as to live in peace.

Imagine this – a toddler just realized that he cannot reach a stool. He did everything and exhausted all his energy.  He found some adults in the area. So he decided to cry to get their attention hoping that the adults will help him. But the adults were indifferent to the toddler. So the toddler cried louder and louder and he started throwing things and having tantrums.

Frustrating isn’t it – to hear those cries? But that was a desperate cry. The adults knew that the toddler will get tired and the crying will eventually stop. Does it solve the problem? – NO!

We could take action and be creative at the same time. In these days, noise barrage is not enough and placards are only good for the eyes (not to all of course). It is no longer enough to just go out and shout – “IMPERYALISMO, IBAGSAK!” No. It is the soul that needs to be touched. Be smart not loud.

What we need is a viral video exposing the crime in capitalism or the corruption in the government; an information dissemination strategy that could explain climate change or global warming; or a visual media that narrate the stories of our brothers and sisters in the south, abroad, on the seas or at the rice fields.

We need to open our eyes and see what we have like what Facebook can offer or YouTube can share. We should use social media to its full potential and not just in sharing what we ate yesterday or watched in cinema the other day. We should share the untold stories of other Filipinos who are voiceless and helpless.

The world has changed, our strategy should also follow.

I graduated non-partisan and for four years in college, I only rallied two times. I am not apathetic. I am just patient. I am waiting for my skills to be developed and my knowledge to be enough – enough to take action at the perfect timing.

With this, we will not be just poor but a country that can now afford to dream because we are not just loud but smart as well.