Tapping the genius within
People who are articulate, exude confidence, and have an organized train of thoughts are often viewed as smart people. They are viewed as intelligent people if they can also speak knowledgeably about a specific topic. If a person can speak intelligibly about a variety of topics with ease and eloquence, they are usually noted as brilliant.
What about the people who have much genius within, but who are not terribly articulate? Much is lost when a person with great ideas is unable to articulate it in a manner that commands interest or respect and does not deliver the message in an organized fashion that is easily understood. There is probably a lot of smart and intelligent minds out there that are left untapped.
Perhaps training everyone in public speaking would be a good way to draw more brilliance out of a larger percentage of the population. Or perhaps training teachers, parents, and employers to ask really good questions in order to draw fabulous ideas out of less talkative individuals is the way to go. After all, it is difficult to change an introverted person to be something else they are not. However, it may be less difficult to draw brilliance out of a brilliant person who is not terribly talkative or articulate.
Usually, in a group discussion, the talkative people get most of the floor time. Even if allocated floor time is given to each person equally, it is not unusual to see the "quiet ones" seemingly throw away their time in the limelight. It could be that their preferred manner of communication is not in front of a group. However, this is typically the point where impressions are made and they have been "written off" as non-contributive to the group. This is where the group facilitator or leader needs to step in and work to bring out the brilliance in these people.
As an optimist, I do think there is at least a glimmer of genius in everyone. It just takes someone, anyone, to take the effort to discover it.
What about the people who have much genius within, but who are not terribly articulate? Much is lost when a person with great ideas is unable to articulate it in a manner that commands interest or respect and does not deliver the message in an organized fashion that is easily understood. There is probably a lot of smart and intelligent minds out there that are left untapped.
Perhaps training everyone in public speaking would be a good way to draw more brilliance out of a larger percentage of the population. Or perhaps training teachers, parents, and employers to ask really good questions in order to draw fabulous ideas out of less talkative individuals is the way to go. After all, it is difficult to change an introverted person to be something else they are not. However, it may be less difficult to draw brilliance out of a brilliant person who is not terribly talkative or articulate.
Usually, in a group discussion, the talkative people get most of the floor time. Even if allocated floor time is given to each person equally, it is not unusual to see the "quiet ones" seemingly throw away their time in the limelight. It could be that their preferred manner of communication is not in front of a group. However, this is typically the point where impressions are made and they have been "written off" as non-contributive to the group. This is where the group facilitator or leader needs to step in and work to bring out the brilliance in these people.
As an optimist, I do think there is at least a glimmer of genius in everyone. It just takes someone, anyone, to take the effort to discover it.
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