Hailey Bird - April 10, 2016
It turns out we're not the only ones that associate 'Hail' with great communication...
I'd like to suggest that there are four really powerful cornerstones, foundations, that we can stand on if we want our speech to be powerful and to make change in the world. Fortunately, these things spell a word. The word is 'Hail,' and it has a great definition as well. I'm not talking about the stuff that falls from the sky and hits you on the head. I'm talking about this definition: 'to greet or acclaim enthusiastically,' which is how I think our words will be received if we stand on these four things.
So what do they stand for? See if you can guess.
The H, honesty, of course, being true in what you say, being straight and clear.
The A is authenticity, just being yourself. A friend of mine described it as standing in your own truth, which I think is a lovely way to put it.
The I is integrity, being your word,actually doing what you say, and being somebody people can trust.
And the L is love. I don't mean romantic love, but I do mean wishing people well, for two reasons.
First of all, I think absolute honesty may not be what we want. I mean, my goodness, you look ugly this morning. Perhaps that's not necessary. Tempered with love, of course, honesty is a great thing. But also, if you're really wishing somebody well, it's very hard to judge them at the same time. I'm not even sure you can do those two things simultaneously. So 'Hail'.
— Julian Treasure