The megaphone.

The megaphone was invented to amplify a single voice, in a particular direction.

It has become a symbol of the passionate orator. Whether that be the inspirational coach on the training field, the leader of the protest rally, or the seemingly unhinged street-corner evangelist who preaches about the mackerels from Mars.

As a tool, it is effective. You may hang on every word, or you may or may not agree with the worldview of the one who wields it. But as a tool, the purpose is not what is said, but how it is said. It was invented not to engage in conversation, it is to be heard.

It is a focal point of attention above the buzz, where there was not one before. It is sharp and clear, and hard to ignore.

But what happens when there is more than one megaphone?

What if opposing sides of the rally bring their own to the same town square? What if two evangelists are equally passionate? How will each be heard above the other? Which one holds the most important?

With megaphones, it would usually begin with each trying to make more noise than the other. The individual with the bigger, or the better megaphone will be able to drown out the other. One might even come with a siren. And if your voice is loud and you are shouting into the face of the other, then all the better.

The point is not to gain agreement, it is to be heard.

If neither can gain the upper hand, perhaps the megaphone will be turned to us. We will be asked to join them, not the other. They will use the noise to persuade, belittle, cajole. They may even contradict, because the best way to get a bigger mob, is to tell everyone what they want to hear.

The point is not to be right, it is to be heard.

Our only option to escape the noise is to leave the space, quit the team, cross the street. We can quit the noise. It is harder when there are two megaphones, because noise carries. But we can walk away.

But what if everyone had a megaphone? What happens then?

How are we heard? What do we say? And when do we choose to use it?

These are the choices we face right now. We all have access to a megaphone. They look different, but they have the same purpose. In the moment it takes to take out our phones, and tap out our emotions, we can be heard. And it is harder to walk away, when the mob turns nasty.

We can choose to pick up this megaphone to control. When we believe it is more important for us to talk, than listen. When we are angry or scared, and it is easier to drown the voices of others than to engage. To speak what we hope to be true rather than to think about what really is.

We can choose to pick up the megaphone to coerce. When we realise that being the loudest in the room, does not mean we have to respect the reason we were asked to be there. If we can just be let into the room, we realise that the boundaries of that permission are there to be bent and broken.

And that when you are in a room with a megaphone, it is harder to walk away, to shut out the noise, to take back the permission.

But a conversation only happens when one person is talking, and another is listening. Relationships are only deepened through a respect for boundaries. A movement is created step by step. Change is only created through empathy and humility.

The megaphone can be the weapon of the inauthentic, or it can still be a tool for the authentic. But in the moments we truly need it, likely it will be handed to you, rather than you needing to bring your own.

And we should always remember that when we use our megaphones, our words will always land loudest with those closest to us.