Great speaking captures our attention in a way few other mediums can.
It has its own unique characteristics: there's a sense of rhythm, expressiveness of voice, and repetition that becomes motif.
Even today, with all the instant gratification and hyper-stimulation, we still seek out those who can speak well. For example, take the massive following of Dan Carlin of Hardcore History, who people listen to for hours on end.
One excellent example of great speaking is Professor Michael Sugrue. He is one of the best I've come across in a long time. He takes complex, often contentious, subject matter and distills it down in a captivating way. I think this talk of his is one of the best examples of him in action.
For a long time, great speakers were specifically revered. The ancient Greeks and Romans placed oratory among the "civic arts". The foundation for great speaking, rhetoric, was one of the three pillars of a classical education.
Marshall McLuhan differentiated between hot and cool mediums.
Somewhat counter-intuitively, the manic newsfeed is actually a cool medium. Despite being high stimulation, it ultimately conveys less information.
The hot medium, the more engaging form, is actually something like the voice, or unadorned text.
So how might we cool the mediums we're using to communicate? How can we simplify the delivery of our message, and in turn make it more engaging?
If the "medium is the message", what are the traits of text in email, like with speaking, that can help us convey information more efficiently?
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