A lot of you Scouts have been working on the Communications skill award and merit badge, and I hope you've learned the importance of communicating clearly.
(Show walkie-talkie. ) With this little device, I can throw my voice a half-mile, maybe more. But what good is it if I don't communicate clearly?
Suppose I radioed you on this walkie-talkie and said "Go, man! Trapped in a cave. In trouble at Spencer’s Mountain. "
Sounds like I'm trapped in a cave at Spencer’s Mountain, right? But what if I used exactly the same words but said them like this: "Go! Man trapped in cave-in. Trouble at Spencer’s Mountain. "
Quite a different story, isn't it? No doubt you'd rush to Spencer’s Mountain if you heard it either way. But would you bring a flashlight and rope to fish me out of the cave? Or would you bring a shovel to dig the other guy out of the cave-in?
As you can see, sometimes a breakdown in communication can be a matter of life and death.