One thing I've realized recently is to watch what you say. A lot of people would probably be surprised I chose that because I have a reputation for talking a lot. But I have been making an effort to slow down because when you talk a lot, people hear a lot and sometimes you don’t want them to know everything. Talking less makes people want to get to know you more but when you are just giving everyone all of the information about you and everyone knows who you are there is no mystery about you, you become less interesting. Another reason to watch what you say is because you never know (especially today) who you might offend, something you think is just a joke could change someone's life but if you're thinking before you talk you can avoid some of that.

When you talk to someone in public, the person you are directly talking to isn't the only person who hears you. A lot of times the conversation can go to personal places or places that you and the person you are talking to are comfortable with but the people around you aren't. That is when stories get told and altered and it turns into a problem. I have a situation where this kind of thing happened but it is personal so I will do a hypothetical story. A middle school student just bought a phone for half price and he is going around telling everybody about how his phone was a “steal” eventually it gets filtered through everyone and it is concluded that he stole a phone. Have you ever played telephone? That is how gossip works, stories never stay the same when they get told through people they get altered so if you say something that's almost inappropriate it will turn it to something actually bad. This is not to say don't talk at all but I believe that you should always think about how things can be heard and altered and if you don't know, just don't say it. 

How I used to be was just a loud, (I would say funny), outgoing kid. Talked and made a joke whenever I thought of one, and just said whatever came to mind. Later I was talking to somebody and we were talking about what they find attractive in people in terms of personality. They said they should either be very funny or “mysterious”. I had never heard that word used in that way and I was wondering why anyone would ever want somebody to be “mysterious”. They told me that it's intriguing when somebody is “mysterious” because you don’t know everything about them and it leaves you something to find out so you are curious. Talking less makes you more interesting I guess. 

People get in big trouble nowadays for saying things that used to be ok, things are getting less tolerable now and the only thing we can do is watch what we say. People's right to their feelings is greater than your freedom of speech. That is not literally, but it is how it looks sometimes. Because you cannot do anything about whether people are sensitive or not you have to take it into your own account to watch what you say and who you could offend, if you don’t say it you can't hurt anyone.

To conclude, I believe you should watch what you say for many reasons. In a time where what you say can change your whole career it is very important to be careful. Talking less can make you more interesting and keep you safe from gossip. That, is what I believe.