Athletes who Struggle with Words

You Know I can’t start a Sentence without saying “You Know.”


I heard it on Sportscenter.
So it must be true.
A short interview with a college athlete who was training for the NFL Combines, which separate the serious April draft choices from those who precipitously fall down the rankings.
It was sad.
Each time the TV interviewer asked a question,
The response started with “You Know,”
“What are you doing down in Arizona to prepare?”
You know, I am just trying to get ready.
“We heard you tore a hamstring muscle. How is it now?”
You know, I would say 90%.
“What is the biggest change you expect to see in the NFL?”
You know, bigger and stronger players.
And you know the rest. It continued for several more questions. Until, you know, I put it mercifully to an end by clicking my, you know, remote.
The real shame of this is no student athlete or any student need to fall into speaking traps in this way.
By picturing in your mind what you want to say before you say it, any student can add spontaneity, energy and color to their language.
A lethargic repetition of words can be replaced with a sparkling insertion of vocabulary choices.
Listeners hear more of what the speaker is saying because the dull sound of repetitive words doesn’t hit them over the head with hammering consistency.
A speaker who wants to dazzle their audiences.
A writer who wants their words to be read.
If they learn to see pictures in their mind before the words.
The results can be worth a treasury of new thoughts.
And each one sounds like it is for the very first time.
And that is when the audience is connected to speaker and writer.
You know?