Like, Whatever...

Taylor Mali issues a great challenge to everyone in his motivational poem concerning speaking with conviction. He starts his speech asking his audience to think about the manner in which people tend to speak. He explains how people love to turn their declarative statements into sentences that end with what he calls an "invisible question mark." He gives many examples of these inquisitive truths while highlighting the reasons why it isn't right to do this. Also, he hits on the unfortunate and over-used phrase "ya know," explaining how it takes away from a statement immediately by making the speaker sound unsure of his or her own points. He uses hypocrisy to make more evident the point he is trying to make. His short speech ends with a challenge to speak with authority and conviction because after all, if you don't even believe in what you say, how can you convince anyone else that you're right?
 I believe that Mali is spot-on with what he is speaking about and he his is spot-on with the way he is conveying his points. This comical, yet meaningful use of hypocrisy is very efficient in making a lasting impression. It seems that all of the world should be forced to listen to (and possibly memorize) this speech. It is very annoying to listen to someone try to convince people of something when they sound like they aren't even sure if they believe what they're saying. While I must admit that I can be guilty of committing this error, I also see first-hand everyday people who do this in school. They have the correct answer, or maybe a great idea to contribute to the discussion, yet they begin with "I don't know if this is right," or "I could be wrong, but." This completely strips what they are about to say of any solidarity. This is definitely something to think about, especially in school. Overall, I guess this was a pretty good like speech or poem or whatever because it like showed the problems that like a lot of people have and stuff, ya know?......Just Kidding.
-Mitch