About 20 middle school students sat at their desks with mixed levels of enthusiasm for being there. It was summer, after all, and they were attending a program put on by a nearby nonprofit. I was one of the guest presenters and my topic for them was communications – interpersonal and group.

I stood at the white board and asked them to provide me the names of some people in history who would be considered great speakers. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, they did not name a famous athlete, celebrity or “influencer.” Of course, this was more than 15 years ago; I wonder how kids that age would respond nowadays.

I wrote the suggestions on the board, stopping after eight names were on the board. I taught the class three times and with each I was able to review the names and put a mark by more than half of them. I then asked what those names had in common. Among all the guesses, no one provided the correct answer.

“All of them were killed, or attempts were made on their lives, for what they said,” I pointed out. The room went quiet as they looked at the names they recommended that had checkmarks by them:  Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. There were a couple of others that they suggested that I do not recall, but with each group of students the exercise worked out the same way. A little mumbling among them and then I would say,

“Never forget the power of what comes out of your mouth, for good or for ill.”

I reminded them that what they say can inspire change, provoke anger and pretty much everything in between, and that we have a responsibility to being judicious with what we say. Judicious does not mean sterile. I told them that they own every word they say. We had some interesting conversations.

I think of that experience from years ago when I consider the noise, gossip and attacks that fill social media. Perhaps people feel “safe” in saying whatever they want with the distance between their statement and the person to which their comment is directed being filled by the web. Unfortunately, the habit seems to be affecting face-to-face conversations, too, with a loss of respect, and a loss of appreciation for the power of the spoken word.

Let’s own our words and use them for good. Tremendous power is in our hands.

Check out my photographic project for the year, The Year of 70: Decades of Joy and Thanks.