The phrase “Gift of the Gap” is used to denote or describe a person who can speak well or impressively. In the human face, the most obvious gap is the mouth and therefore when a person is able to use this gap superbly i.e. speak well, that person can be referred to as someone having the gift of the gap.
Having been blessed with “the gift of the gap” can turn out to be advantageous and beneficial for anybody since communication is key to success in almost every field of life. As someone rightly said, “If you are someone who can communicate well, then 80% of your problem is already solved”. And here, having “the gift of the gap” may not necessarily mean only being able to speak well and impressively in front of a crowd, gathering or congregation. Of course, if someone has the ability to do that, it is well and good. But even if someone does not have the talent to speak boldly and impressively on a stage or podium, if he can communicate well in informal day-to-day situations, I think such persons can also be said to have the “gift of the gap” and success may not be far away from such persons also.
It can be something as simple as a few seconds or minutes’ conversation with a shopkeeper, a taxi driver or a stranger in the street. But if a person has the ability to construct his thought processes and verbalize it in an articulate and coherent manner, such a person can also be said to have the “gift of the gap”. Similarly in formal settings, if one can communicate well and get his point of view across the table to the other party eloquently, then such persons also have “the gift of the gap”.
I came across this phrase while reading a book on Adolf Hitler. Historians have described Hitler as a man with an unmatched ‘gift of the gap’. The one thing that propelled Hitler to the pinnacle of power from a hopeless situation was his oratory skill.
After failing to become an artist, Hitler spent years as a vagrant and when the First World War broke out, he joined the German army and was happy in the army because he had found something where he could fit in. After the end of war, Hitler had nowhere to go because he had no home, no family, no money, no career and no godfather. And so he decided to do anything to stay in the army.
And it was while carrying out some clandestine and espionage mission for the army that Hitler discovered his speaking talents. He was someone who spoke all the time even in informal settings. And the people around him suddenly realized that he has special talent in speaking especially to a large and diverse crowd. Hitler was someone who had no credentials and so he himself was surprised when people were mesmerized by his speeches. And slowly, Hitler came to know that he could become much more than just a mere spokesman for a small political party because he had realized that he could incite and galvanize crowds with his oratory. He initially started with sharing his ideas and thoughts within the military circle. But soon he realized that his oratory skills could take him far beyond the confines of the military circle.
Since he had this unmatched gift of the gap, Hitler had the potential to become a great protagonist. But he was someone who came from nowhere and thus, he lacked culture and education. So his superiors in the army sent him to the Munich University to attend an army-funded course on Politics, History and Economics so that he could construct his thought processes better. Hitler found this course extremely interesting because some of the classes were totally based on the idea of extreme Anti-Semitism.
By the early 1920s, Hitler had become so well-known as a speaker that just the mere mention of his name would attract thousands of people to come just to listen to him. His nationalistic and fanatic speeches incited and galvanized the people to such an extent that he was even barred from public speaking by the authorities for some time.
Hitler’s speeches were nothing like the people had ever heard before. It was totally new. Other politicians of that time would normally speak in a very slow, haranguing and academic tone which made the listeners bored and inattentive. Besides, most of the politicians simply read their speeches without ever taking off their eyes from the written pages and their faces showed no emotions or expressions.
Hitler’s speeches, on the other hand, were so spontaneous, so articulate, so eloquent and so free-flowing that it immediately caught the attention of the unsuspecting listeners. The moment anybody heard Hitler speak on the radio for the first time, their instant reaction was always “who is this man?” Besides, Hitler never read out his speeches from written pages because for Hitler, to give a speech was just like having breakfast or dinner. He was so gifted in it that it all came naturally to him without any effort or preparation and that was what impressed the listeners the most.
Over the decades, historians have tried to study and figure out what made Hitler’s speeches so amazingly effective and impressive. For once, Hitler spoke in a manner that was completely different from other politicians. The politicians simply read out their speeches without any hand gestures or the slightest of emotions or expressions. Most of the terms and sentences used by the other politicians were academic in nature which was unintelligible to most common men. Hitler, on the other hand, used simple non-academic words and sentences which were used by the commoners daily. He spoke not in lengthy academic tones but in short sentences which were very hard-hitting and full of hatred and aggression. And his style of speaking fully resonated and complied with the times the German people were going through because most Germans felt that they had been betrayed and maltreated by the victorious powers of the First World War.
Another factor which made Hitler’s speeches stand out was his unusual voice. Hitler was a victim of mustard gas in the First World War. It was a gas which affects the lungs, the eyelids and the soft tissues in the body. After being gassed, Hitler’s voice was so badly affected that it became totally coarse, harsh, jarring, husky and very forceful. This was why once someone heard his voice he could not forget or resist it. And this was why when Hitler’s speeches were relayed over the radio, it made such an instant and provocative impact.
Another factor was that Hitler’s ascent to power coincided with the invention of the radio. And as Hitler was someone who believed so much on the power of propaganda, he and his comrades took full advantage of this technology to make their speeches reach out to as many people as possible. For this reason, they even came out with a very cheap radio set called the ‘People’s Receiver’ which was affordable to one and all. And thus when Hitler spoke, literally the whole of Germany was listening.
So what can we conclude from this discourse on the speaking talents of this man? Some historians have even doubted whether Hitler was actually a great speaker because most of his speeches were not even oratory in nature. Hitler was neither a philosopher nor an intellectual. He was more of a dreamer and an idealist. And as such, most of what he said was not at all insightful or intellectually brilliant. On the contrary, his speeches were full of rhetoric and platitudes. But the meanings of the speeches were not important to the listeners. What was important was that the speeches could incite passion, patriotism, obedience and loyalty. Hitler would usually start his speeches in a formal lowly and very gentlemanly manner and slowly pick up the tone and pitch as the speech continued and by the time the speech comes to its ending, Hitler would be practically shouting at the top of his voice. And in the end, this style was so effective that it left the whole crowd captivated and spellbound.
Hitler is usually considered a great orator but he was not necessarily a master of words. Rather, Hitler was a master–deceiver and someone who relied on propaganda all his life to get what he wanted. Most of what Hitler said in his speeches were lies and deceits. But still then the people were wooed and inspired because of the manner and times in which it was said. This makes us once again to realize the paramount influence that rhetoric, platitudes, slogans and propagandas play in politics and in our lives. So once again we have to conclude with the caution, “Be informed but do not be deceived.”
