Our biggest problem is who to believe

"I believe in America" - These are the first words of The Godfather delivered by Bonasera.

The genius of the Godfather films is that they dramatise the unfolding connections between belief, action and consequences.

Through most of the trilogy, we feel revulsion at the horrors.

But we're gripped, because we sympathise.

We crave justice, we respect loyalty, we want to protect our family, but we can see how those intentions can become utterly corrupted.

I've published two books this year. They're ostensibly about speechwriting, but they are actually about faith.

Many people like to believe that we have transcended old religious beliefs that lead to wars and persecution.

But we can't escape the problem of who or what to trust.

We have to put our faith in something: ourselves, other people, institutions or ideas.

And, faith, most of the time, tends to be intuitive.

As Malcolm Gladwell says in his book, Talking to Strangers, it's just too hard to default to distrust.

Our beliefs are based less on rational thinking, and more on emotional identification.

We have to pick a tribe, an institution, or a guru, and that works sometimes, but we should always try to cultivate our own personal autonomy.

But it's always deeply painful if we have to detach from the choice we've made, or the choice that has been made for us.

In speechwriting, we manufacture trust.

We spend hours researching proofs, finding words and arranging arguments to persuade people what to think.

We know that you can rarely get people to change their minds. You only ever seek to influence pre-existing beliefs.

One of the ways to prepare is to find out what we believe ourselves.

That's why I recommend the process of commonplacing.

Whenever I read a sentence and think, that's what I believe, I copy it down.

Writing things down is a very powerful way to get a grip on reality.

In fact, I would suggest that writing things down is the only way to get a grip on reality.

I encourage people to do inventories, because we have our own perceptions of what we do - how much do I spend on Amazon a month? why did that person fall out with me? why do I always repeat the same experience? - and then there is the reality.

We can't even trust ourselves.

The act of writing things down generates 'revelations'.

How does that work?

My theory is that when we subject our own beliefs to critical scrutiny, we begin to see their limitations.

And when our beliefs are challenged, we become able to 'see' things that we couldn't see before.

Unexpected 'truth' emerges. Unusual patterns become perceptible.

Suddenly things that didn't seem connected are revealed to be linked.

That's why I believe that creativity and insight comes from 'revelation' rather than rationality.

We need to be conscious of mysterious impressions that come from within, rather than trying to align ourselves with external authorities.

The Godfather films show what happens when powerful people put their faith in the wrong things. They end up destroying the things they say they want to protect.

My books are optimistic and pessimistic.

I'm pessimistic about our efforts to change the world, because so many people believe crazy things. But I'm optimistic, too.

I believe that by examining and evaluating where we put our own 'faith', we can change ourselves, and ultimately, opt out of the madness.

Engage Brain, How to record, retrieve and remember what inspires you.

A Speechwriters' Notebook, Outlandish ideas to get your audiences to look up from their phones, scratch their heads and never see the world in the same way again.

Brian Jenner organises the European Speechwriter Network. The next conference is in March 2023 in Brasenose College, Oxford.

You can register to join here.