Jack Ma: why I’m more and more afraid of giving speeches

You probably know the name Jack Ma. The man is, after all, the chairman and founder of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba, and his word carries some serious weight in Asian tech circles.

What you may not know is that Jack Ma occasionally blogs. So, once again, I’ve roughly translated his latest piece below. I think it’s a thought-provoking piece, both for those of us in the media and those of you who frequently speak to the media.

When I was young, I thought that many people were too steady, dry, and boring when they spoke. Without even a shred of personal perspective, these people often spoke formally, grasping their speech and reading it aloud politely and seriously… but now I understand a lot of the reason [behind that approach].

Speech isn’t about how you say it, it’s about how other people hear it, or even scarier, how other people write, edit, quote, understand, and transmit it. The saying “trouble comes from the mouth” seems especially scary on today’s technologically-developed web. If you make a small mistake, the results can be disastrous.

I come from teachers, and I naturally enjoy communication, but I’m more and more afraid of giving speeches, interviews, and communicating. The reason is that every audience’s attitude is different, and every editor’s goals and angles are different. The same sentence that was so funny in its original atmosphere can be edited into a truly terrifying headline. (Sometimes, a joke told onstage that gets edited into a headline can cause you to offend someone forever, and there’s no way to make up for it or explain it). So the sensible speak less and less, and speeches without any point of view and more and more common. Speaking the truth is what should be done, but if you say something wrong or controversial or make a joke, another eye may see it as a terrible headline. Even worse is when editors guess or have a motive in grafting [things you said] together to create your headline.

Recently some topics surrounding me, especially those labeled “foreign media reports”, are even more inexplicable. Ha ha ha, for example, “got drunk and bought a sports team,” “five major banks want to kill me,” “mistreat me yesterday and I’ll destroy you today.” Especially when it comes to sensitive topics, many people may not have bad intentions but these things [i.e., being misquoted and misinterpreted] can add up to have very negative consequences. But when you run into a listener with ulterior motives, that’s the real trouble. Here with my own “weak mind,” I’ve already offended many friends and friends I haven’t met yet, so consider this an apology!

You can’t blame today’s tech media, and you can’t blame the listeners for how they accept what you say or the transmitters for their power. If you want to blame something, blame your own vanity, carelessness, and the fact that your effort is too low while the number of speeches you’re giving is too high.

See more: Jack Ma on how to find happiness at work

(Source: Sina Tech)