Watch Your Words: A Manifesto for the Arts of Speech

Never before has humanity done so much talking. But is anyone listening? For that matter, are people even speaking to each other?

We need to acknowledge that speech, as we know it, has never been so debased. We live in a world full of empty, degraded, and potentially violent speech: a daily reality that confronts us in the workplace, in the media, on the streets, on the internet, and in our political lives. Verbal clashes are commonplace, while proper dialogue is rare.

Gérald Garutti pushes for a return to a more constructive and responsible form of speech. He lays the groundwork for a humanistic approach: one which, contrary to the dominant culture of ignoring and humiliating others, emphasizes listening to them and mastering speech as a way of connecting. The arts of speech can contribute to the reconciliation of tensions in our society and to the realization of our full humanity.

Watch Your Words is a stunning manifesto for anyone interested in how we might better communicate with each other.

Gérald Garutti is a theatre director, playwright, and lecturer, and founder of the Centre for the Arts of Speech in Paris.