I used to use words and phrases that barely meant anything. Then I had to repeat them when I was told they didn’t get me. I thought I speak a sophisticated language and that the problem is in those who don’t read books and have a poor vocabulary.
I couldn’t see the words I spoke, and I often couldn’t hear them.
Every time I had to talk to a group of more than 3 people, I was doing two things: go unprepared and use words and phrases that I thought would mask that unpreparedness. I never saw how the words that were supposed to make a point were received by the other side.
That led to public speaking anxiety. Furthermore, even if I was not the one that spoke, I was avoiding exposing myself to asking questions, or simply expressing my opinion during group discussions. I hated it.
Words should make a meaning, regardless if someone hears or reads them. Building Writings got me curious about the impact of writing on our mental health. Why is writing used in therapies, why journaling helps people, and so on.
I ended up reading papers from scientific researches working on finding the relationship between writing and speaking. Here are a few to name:
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On the relationship between speech and writing with implications for behavioral approaches to teaching literacy - read at PubMed central
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The Effect of Writing Practice on Improving Speaking Skill among Pre-intermediate EFL Learners - read at Research Gate
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Writing therapy: a new tool for general practice? - read at PubMed central
I couldn’t grasp all of that, it’s really a huge topic and you need exactly that scientific dedication to read and understand those papers. But what I found out is that writing affects the way we are speaking a large scale.
Primarily because it helps us organize the things we want to say beforehand. And that is only in case when we consciously prepare to give a public speech. Writing regularly though affects the way we express ourselves so that others can understand us and that is not applicable only to your published articles. You can be writing and not publishing, still, you have to understand what you wanted to say.
And that is where I focused.
I started writing regularly, sometimes publishing what I wrote, and sometimes I kept it just for myself. But anyway, I kept my focus on editing my drafts to the point they made sense to me. I took the role of the reader or the audience that hears that speech. I wanted to have an insight through the same piece I wrote.
Once I started owning that, I became much more fluent in my speech. It affected my self-confidence and made me feel that I have something important to say.
Just like that fiction story that I wrote the other day.