No, there is nothing good about people live-tweeting your speech

Communication-industry training outfits have to make something constructive and teachable out of every phenomenon.

And so Ragan’s website has a story today about how speakers are dealing with their audiences’ live-tweeting and live-blogging. Some speakers, the article claims, “are even embracing Twitter and other media as tools that can enhance listeners’ experience.”

Speechwriters, we’ve got to hold the line on this.

We may not be able to keep today’s ADD-led speech audiences from Tweeting and live-blogging and other examples of Barbarism 2.0. And perhaps we should not even waste time trying to discourage this behavior.

But we ought to hold fast to the reality that telling others about a speech as they are listening to it—and before they’ve had a moment to digest it and consider it in its full context—does not, in fact, “enhance listeners’ experience.”

Just because we have lost civility in communication, doesn’t mean we have to lose our minds as well.

Can I get an amen?

—DM