Like_youknow

[@moyosafi12]

I was introduced to this video in an English literature class in 2009. Taylor Mali's words have resounded in my thinking from that time forward.

[@aarodful]

Sad to see the comments where so many people didn't get it. Speaking in a declarative tone about beliefs or ideas you have is good. It doesn't mean that you will never question those beliefs, or have a closed mind, it just means that you currently believe them. It is ok to use a questioning tone when you are genuinely uncertain. The trend has been to use a questioning tone even when making declarative statements which communicated that you don't actually believe what you are saying. It would be the equivalent of putting question marks at the end of every sentence. It will communicate to people that you have no true ideas beliefs or convictions and nothing to offer. Speaking in a questioning tone constantly doesn't indicate open mindedness, but empty mindedness.

[@hinsonlegobrick9045]

Thanks for helping me in my homework

[@AshfordK2006]

"I'm just asking you to join me on the bandwagon of my own uncertainty". SO true. I love it.

[@Squeege85]

I love this poem, another awesome poem by Taylor Mali. I love the way he breaks down the use of language in this one. It's so intelligent and thought out.

[@abdallabaar2664]

Are u a life now man

[@LemurJackson]

@@abdallabaar2664 fr

[@ashleypannkuk4074]

I'm a teacher at Vandegrift High School, and today the principal told me "from now on you need to say yes ma'am and just do what you're told" - it made me think of this video that I showed to my debate students. We loved your speech.

[@Donovan510]

This has to be one of the most inspiring things I've heard in a long time. Opinionated people beware, this man speaks with authority.

[@taeblends]

Whenever I catch myself saying "like" every other word, I come back to this video.

[@beantown28]

Just when you thought it was safe to be a mid-ranged poet. Real words and thoughts have been reintroduced! Thank you Taylor Mali!!! It was more than necessary

[@chrisgauvin5100]

I am a corporate executive chef and I often cater meetings and listen in. People in the corporate world now, sound like frat boys and sorority girls instead of professionals. "So..." is how these people begin almost every sentence and the word "like" shows up everywhere. This dude is right.

[@MrChess187]

Sociology sent me here. I'm from the year 2019. meep beep beep meep

[@legendling5990]

I can say for sure to stay the heck out of 2020

[@theropecaller7954]

@@legendling5990 2021 isn’t any better.

[@SageHoyt]

year 2025 😀

[@FredrikKvamme]

This video has severely changed how I listen to speech. It now, even more than before, saddens me when sentences are littered with "like" and "literally". I wish everyone I had the pleasure of speaking to had seen this video, it is such a hard-hitting flick.

[@InfectedDaemon]

I love that term: Aggressively inarticulate. Resounding.

[@ASHLEYOFFICIAL]

this is so true in today's society. I am sad to say I have fallen victim to the 'like' s and ya know's etc, etc, that most of my age's population has turned to. This poem opened my eyes a touch

[@littlemykey3000]

I remember how I felt bad in middle school for showing more intelligence. I spoke properly, and someone would point it out as if it's unusual or looked down upon. It makes sense how one would dislike a smart person, because they can see the smart person as pompous. Many people who lack intelligence end up taking pride in the bad things they do. Truth is, no one should look down upon anybody. We're all humans, and we should all work hard at improving ourselves and help others.

[@daniADKapi80826]

This comment was made 8 years ago, and yet it still didn't get the likes it deserves after all its time.

[@DianeDiResta]

Excellent. Loved it. He says in a short video what I've been trying to tell my clients in my seminars and books.

[@killit95]

Glad that this is in my English III class! Because I would have, like, never found it otherwise.

[@ebengordon6074]

You know!

[@gossipgirlx0869]

my language arts teacher sent me here.... & i love her for it! this is funny af

[@PugLoop]

Gossipgirlx0 my language arts teacher sent me here

[@the_awkward_logician]

Gossipgirlx0 same here, you know?

[@sepehr2518]

Same

[@mennyus]

this is something i have both identified and am guilty of so it is great to hear someone talk about it on stage. the uk is somewhat less struck by this than the states, but unfortunately we're getting there

[@TheFremenChick]

Yessss. I am from Arizona and living in New Zealand. Most Kiwis end all their sentences like questions and it drives me nuts.

[@elliedp1]

This video has definetly sent a message by its own generation for us to consider the way in which we are communicating in society today. Are we getting our messages across? Are we articulating well enough to create and sustain successful relationships in business, family or with our peers? These are questions this video poses and they are great questions which challenge us to look further at ourselves and our methods of learning.

[@Mariothepoet]

Mr. Mali is a Master and a Artist of the highest regard...We are lucky to be alive in the same season as this Exceptional Man of Poetry...Buddy Wakefield and him should do a show together and show the world Poetry...

[@JLaw954]

I get very very vexed when otherwise intelligent people make the massive massive mistake of doubling many many adjectives/adverbs. It really really ticks me off so so much. Inanywayshapeorform, does it kindalike annoy anyone else, or am I basically the Lone Ranger on this one?

[@Wicket1432]

My drama teacher showed this to us today I had to go back and look at it because it is awesome.

[@saketg5954]

This is, like, you know poetry, .but like, funnier, you know, like cool, you know what i'm saying?

[@beckysmith8768]

+SaketG lol love it almost as funny as the vid you know?

[@SendiSiradj]

It's 2020. And it's still relevant

[@SteveO3387]

This guy has a gift, and something to say. Always a winning combination!

[@ryantrueman3451]

Taylor is one of a kind…

[@iheartxnyx]

lol this guy was at my school today i bought his CD and Book, He is so amazing Live!

[@rylisms]

This is , like, you know -- really good.

[@intercitty]

I think this needs a another spotlight right now in 2020

[@JasonJonesArtCitySound]

Umm, *HUGE* yes! Had a friend of mine get on this bandwagon a few years ago, and I wondered what had happened. Being aggressive to the point of attacking isn't good, but man, say what you believe, brother!

[@Bohonk212]

Yeah! Say what you believe strongly, rather than actually taking the time and intellectual effort to PROVE it.

[@ronniedow7537]

Me and the English class boys are chilling on this video

[@Lightherder]

I've lived in 6 different states, met people from all over the country from school/military, never have I met anyone like that. It reminds me of an 80s comedy movie character.

[@SERIOUSLOVEJONES]

love this shit. i love the way he expresses himself. the point was well put on how to speak with conviction. i will accept the challenge to speak with conviction and to say what i believe in a manner that bespeaks the determination with which i believe it!!!

[@LillyianPuppy]

I am so in love with this man's poetry, and I am also in love with Def Poetry Jam!

[@pancakeninja17]

The rise in intonation at the end of a sentence is called the High Rising Terminal, or "uptalk". Language is constantly changing and uptalk is basically just a new adaptation it has taken on, for more reasons than hesitance. There some a fairly interesting articles about it if you google it.

[@ryancuenca7195]

Rings even truer today. I love this.

[@LukeSimpson]

I can't stop watching this. Always come back to it.

[@offtheheazy6]

I've always wished for a commanding voice and tone like his...he is the ultimate public speaker, it would be fucking awesome if I could learn to master elocution like he has, it is a vital talent that is often taken for granted. You could truly rule the world with such a skill.

[@MJ4829]

this was shared in my 9th grade english class and countless people didn't understand why the audience was laughing. This is basically common sense. Society today is filled with people that explain or talk about something as if it were a question rather than a statement. Saying "like" after almost every word and putting "you knows" to confirm the other person knows what your saying. At my age I do this(and that's ok) but I'm certain it won't last when in I'm in my 30's

[@stephenheckman5528]

"It's not enough to question authority, you gotta speak with it."

[@roninalchemist]

@JokeeGA5 Good to know that at least SOMEONE out there is protecting the integrity and intelligence of America's media. Thank you for this.

[@Dyiax]

i am in shock. I just read a youtube conversation that was articulate, peaceful and gave me insight. Thanks guys.

[@Jonmad17]

The gap between what we know and what we can know is so large now, and becomes so much larger every day, that the only proper method of communication is uncertainty. People can be proved wrong at any second, so they couch all of their statements in qualifiers as to not seem certain, because they aren't. We're finally beginning to understand how little we actually know, and it's reflecting on our daily speech. It's progress.

[@NevadaWPFan]

This is awesome! Finally, another person who agrees with me. It seems that every time I sit next to a group of young women, they say the words "like", and "you knows?" every other words. Those are the women I don't date. lol

[@awdgurl1]

he is right. we have no conviction. we don't believe anything anymore, everyday we find out we were wrong about this or that or that older ppl have lied to us more than we thought.

[@milwrift]

i was going to upload this clip so thanks for doing it for me...Season 2 is great.

[@UnionKid15]

I show this to a lot of my friends who speak like that, sadly nearly everyone talks like this now-a-days though. Seriously everyone, speak with some damn conviction.

[@SoulOfAKingMHK]

If the janitor from Scrubs did spoken word…

[@barrusDemonPlucker]

1. yes 2. His sole was fried and served with lemon , his soul shows proudly threw his words 3. Points should be sharp and cutting and ,thus, most often brief not not dulled and belabored. 4. A pedagog perhaps but parish pedantic. This truth about wavering convictions rings loud and speaks to the majority and those whom have forgotten how to temper their words with conviction.

[@ddrumsman549]

He came to my school and everyone was in awe. He is the man.

[@tyrell71454]

I used to watch this all the time. Do this show still come on?

[@UnleshedBeast98]

He once came to our public library and that day, I witnessed something that truly spectacle It was amazing how presented his poetry

[@NaTaS-]

We use to have to do a sketch in 5th grade and I still remeber a teacher saying that the year before a girl had used "like" over 60 times in 3 minutes. :)

[@enock83]

That was dope and real

[@rrolandfanega]

We watched this video in my Communication Arts Class today. After the vid, the class talked about it, and my classmates couldn't stop saying "like" in their sentences :)

[@ryantrueman3451]

One of the single greatest pieces of spoken word of the 21st century…and I don’t care if you agree or not. Speak with conviction 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@SpellsOfTruth]

This dude is way ahead of his time, the sing song cadence of authority people speak in nowadays is absurd despite the majority who do this being young and majority never having read an actual book in their lives. I find it hard to talk to anyone thats gone through the college education system today. They are intelligent people, and they treat modern science as a religion, but what they do not realize is, intelligence doesnt matter at all, and modern science is more of a bullshit cult than religion is. Intelligence is knowing all the facts. Wisdom is gradually understanding which facts matter more than other facts(Wisdom > Intel). High Consciousness is immediate understanding of which facts matter more than other facts(HC > Wisdom). Will is the ability to act in reality on those facts that matter (Will > HC). I got in an argument wit a freshly graduated comp sci student about how I thought Minecraft creator Notch is a genius. He said, 'I hate when people say that, hes not a genius, you can go on youtube and watch people make a minecraft clone from scratch in only 10 hours of coding', I said 'So what? You can ask any decent guitarist alive today to play a Jimi Hendrix song and they'll do it with ease, but it dont make them a genius like jimi hendrix, why is that?' Its the education systems intelligence/iq based definition of 'genius', in reality a genius is someone who tweaks a field of interest to create a knew field of interest, a genius is someone who is insanely productive, a genius is someone who understands how something works immediately (high consciousness) and immediately can act on it in reality (will). Shitposter in chief(djt), Elon Musk, Notch, Scott Adams, Mike Cerno..., Kanye, Alex Gay Frog Jones, Eric Dollard, Ken Wheeler, Owen Benjamin, David Goggins, noagenda podcast guys, Leonard Spooner, Vox day, Farakhan, Kissinger etc all are wrong about things. All of them are wrong...But they also all have little nuggets of truth sprinkled throughout their videos/actions, they have SPELLS OF TRUTH sprinkled into their videos/actions. The key and fun part is finding the spell...

[@JokeeGA5]

I was just talking about that in my Reporting Class today. The book tells you to use simple language like for example "About vs. Approximately" or "Built vs. Constructed" &c. and I had to question this because I believe journalists have, on top of their responsibility to report facts, also the responsibility to educate the reader with the use of the English language. If they never use these "more than three syllables" words, how will the reader ever know what the word "approximately" means?

[@RawkStarr1980]

Beyond epic! I freaking love it!

[@sevenayan]

Makes me rethink about how I've been speaking my whole life o.O

[@briecheezit]

@c16sh1 I agree. I think another aspect of it is that teenagers were raised in a culture obsessed with political correctness. They are so afraid of being labeled --as racy, ignorant, pushy-- before they can finish their thought, simply because their opinions might open themselves up to someone else's derision. So they inject it with a healthy amount of uncertainty, and no one is offended and everyone stays happy.

[@Adeikov]

I like how you handled this respondent, very well in my opinion; it's difficult to deal with those that are like "you are this and you are that". I dislike aggression such as that shown by GrimmPumpkin..

[@justtogetby23]

well i dont know if anyone has noticed this but "the assault on human language" is also used whenever you don't capitalize, add caps, "rofl", etc. therefore we shouldn't be harsh on those who use "y'know, like"....just pointing out inconsistencies...oh and by the way, i use this slang because it's become natural for me from the environment in which i live in, not the education i receive which is adequate.

[@Adeikov]

(part 1) It depends what arrogance and humility mean. I've a feeling those words can mean different things to different people and the dictionary only goes so far, not with the exactness that it can present objective proof of such concepts, the justification for why one is deemed eternally wrong and the other eternally right with real life examples of the operation and consequence of them.

[@NJAR31298]

saw this guy on youtube in english class. Thanks Mr. Rapien!

[@sueswoodhues]

@IHaveAPodXTLive I had to go back and listen to the video twice because I didn't think I had heard any aspersions cast upon any particular generation, let alone the younger one. As someone in the way older generation, I hear this kind of saying nothing from everyone around me, except for those in my mother's generation. Usually, when some one asks me, "You know?" I'm startled because, I'm still waiting for them to say something important. It DOES give us something to say when we forget.

[@Adeikov]

(part 1) Sometimes, it is beneficial to speak with ignorance, because if one is willing take the criticism and learn from it, and later modify that opinion to make it like less vulnerable and keyed in with the information provided by others, the harder will it be for it to be doubted. And there are many ways an opinion can be strengthened and sharpened. And presented fairly too, no tricks or making analysis of it difficult.

[@bigpanda67]

I like, totally love his message. You know?

[@bummercucumber]

This is great, and completely true. I hate when I oversay "like," and make interrogatives of declaratives.

[@OumTHMDY]

LOL! @'Have they been ,like, chopped down with the rest of the rain forest? You know?'. That was funny and on point. -A

[@kittycathappy]

LOL... Is it like bad to say i like this story? LOL i love this man! his poems are so real and wished he was my teacher when i was in high school and or college.

[@roninalchemist]

And part of the problem with society today is that we don't believe in the concept of truth anymore. We're so wishy washy and "everyone has their own truth" that we don't even believe "our" truth anymore because there are so many other "truths". People who speak with any sort of conviction or belief are shot down because their ideals might offend some or another group and are therefore invalid to a discussion. We have become afraid to declare truth, even in the smallest of things.

[@DeniseOBerry]

If you haven't watched this video yet, take three minutes to do so. And listen carefully. It may just change the way you speak. :-)

[@abiosehgriffin7196]

'educating' thanks

[@GrinningJest3r]

His emphasis was different each time. The first "speak with authority" was about presence and conviction while the second was about authority figures themselves. He used the same phrase with both specifically for the purpose of elaborating on the double meaning as he implied was his intention in the first five words of his post.

[@fnsmike]

The double meaning is intentional - you must both "speak with authority", i.e. express the conviction of your beliefs in your own statements, and also "speak with authority" - to go beyond just asking questions to engaging authority figures and views directly.

[@kjoker11]

This is very true and i love this poem :)

[@rosey4exclaim]

This was amazing and terribly true. I've become more and more aware of the use of "like" in my Californian vocabulary, and I'm trying to remedy it.

[@cranks9593]

Is the audio off a little on this?

[@LukeSimpson]

I heard someone say, "Believe what you believe with absolute conviction, but believe it teachably."

[@Earlyman]

Absolutely freaking brilliant!?

[@Adeikov]

People should be friends even if their philosophies conflict. This "I must be right" attitude sounds territorial, it doesn't matter for him what he believes exactly, just that he has the might to say "this is what I will believe"; and any one that comes to take his belief away is a rival. "Strength at which you believe it"; I could be wrong though, perhaps he is preaching that we should all speak the contents of our minds and be honest with a fearlessness that says "this is me". I'm uncertain.

[@Moiez101]

OMg yo. i'm gona graduate from highschool after a year, and i really want to become a high school teacher. what tips do you have man? what should i expect? is it rewarding?

[@gtowncook]

Oh bummer, there's now some sort of audio/video delay in this clip. It used to not be like that. Anyone know what happend? Any way to change it back?

[@RoCk4LiFe90]

He is conflating two different types of "authority. The first use of "authority" is a noun, it's a thing/entity. The second use of "authority" is an adverb, it modifies the verb "to speak." I don't know if he made a mistake an didn't realize it, or if he intended to conflate the two. Why he would conflate them, I have no clue.

[@yasuke414]

Yes!

[@MarkStouffer]

The trend he is talking about is the product of the currently dominant philosophies of scepticism and subjectivism.

[@cometkite]

@KnightofMotley Is it wrong to consider that you might not be right all the time?

[@Kinaasan]

This was very, very very good. No lie. I SPEAK WITH CONVICTION MR!

[@ajnode]

All day, every day... I encounter people who end up getting really angry with me and saying "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE RIGHT?!" I've usually corrected really, really basic errors they've made - just like, if I made an error, I'd like someone to correct me. The problem is, everyone around me seems to make errors ALL THE TIME, and get really angry when I point them out.

[@infinitepossibility]

Absolutely spot on.

[@iLUVHKK]

"...I have nothing personally invested in my own opinions. I'm just, like, inviting you to join me on the bandwagon of my own uncertainty...?" Hahaha. Love it.

[@Vektor0]

Open-mindedness is NOT uncertainty. Open-mindedness does not mean that you're uncertain about whether the chicken or the egg first. Open-mindedness means that while you have your belief about which came first, you respect that others may have reasons for their beliefs as well. If you are on a bandwagon of uncertainty, that doesn't necessarily mean you are open-minded. People who do this all the time are usually those who are too ignorant to form opinions, hence their constant uncertainty.

[@SMCFirebat]

what is the name of the comedian who introduced him? I've seen him before but am totally blanking on the his name..

[@Vektor0]

It's true. I think the reason why we've started to speak interrogatively, as he says, is BECAUSE we don't know what we're talking about.

[@sawri]

This is something new. Performance poetry? Me likey!

[@KokoTooLegit]

Niceeee! Well-said. Thank YOU! :)

[@jsngerlach]

can i get a transcript of this?

[@malinadams]

"It is not enough these days to simply question authority, you got to speak with it too." Oh sweet irony, possibly a taste on my lips alone. On our young speaker the irony seems lost, for in this world, it is fools who speak with authority that call the wise to question, and contrary, it is the wise who entice the fool to think on their own. Oh sweet irony.

[@humey26]

Exactly. But how is that changing anything?

[@mookie714]

This guy needs a like, a standing ovation or something. he uses big words and stuff.