Talk to Me

“Let me tell you something. Nowadays, everybody's got to go to shrinks and counsellors and talk about their problems. What happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type. He wasn't in touch with his feelings. He just did what he had to do.”

Tony Soprano, “The Sopranos” pilot episode

Where did we get the idea that bottling up our feelings and struggling through difficult times in isolation was the best way to cope with our problems? It simply isn't sustainable. Fans of Mafia drama “The Sopranos” will recall that Tony Soprano’s equation of strength with silence in the pilot episode was swiftly followed by his first visit to a counsellor, who he continued to depend on throughout the show’s eight-year run.

Talking is good. Sharing is good. Telling our friends how we feel isn’t irksome or weak; it’s a flattering show of trust. Yes, I’m ready to walk across a tightrope towards you and hand you the key to my self-esteem. I know you’ll tread carefully and guard it watchfully because that’s what my friendship means to you, and what yours means to me.

Thursday, February 6th is Time to Talk Day. Celebrated as Britain’s largest conversation on the subject of mental health, it asks all of us to talk about things that matter to us and promote wellness as widely as possible. It encourages us to organise our own local events, meeting at community centres, organising group lunches and starting conversations that will lead somewhere fulfilling. Since the first Time to Talk Day in 2014, the sponsorship of organisations including Mind, Rethink Mental Illness  and Co-op has helped this annual event grow into a major platform fighting against isolation and enabling wellness.

Time to Talk Day 2025 comes hot on the heels of another event that, in a different way, promised notable steps forward in communication.

Each January, Las Vegas hosts the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It’s a week-long exhibition of new tech on the cusp of availability. The CES 2025 Innovation Awards honoured two products in particular that will change the lives of disabled users.

Bling by Braindeck is a wearable speech converter that enables users with speech disabilities to communicate in their own voices. Combining cutting-edge AI with a high-performance microphone, speaker and built-in camera, it’s programmed to convert non-typical speech and sign language into audible speech in real-time. It plays an audio version of this speech via its own speaker and additionally displays a text version on the user’s wrist via its own built-in projector.

Voice to Braille by SignTech is building a bridge to better communication for users with sight-impairment, with a microphone system that delivers accurate voice recognition and instantly converts the spoken word into digital text and Braille, enabling users unable to read or write Braille to swiftly create, edit, and print Braille text. It can then be relayed via audio speakers or sent to Braille printers.

The new products we see each year at CES continue to dazzle us, and if there’s a limit to the benefits we can realise from communications technology, we’re nowhere near reaching it. With tech developments pointing us so clearly in the direction of better, more accurate communication, it seems self-destructive to turn our backs and refuse to engage with those around us who are eager to listen. It seems foolish not to talk. Time to Talk Day on February 6th is an opportunity we should seize. Which events are you attending? Why not organize one of your own?

Incidentally Gary Cooper, the strong, silent movie star Tony Soprano admired so much, wasn’t as silent as all that. Cooper’s signature role in the classic Western “High Noon” sees him take a stand against a gang of outlaws when all around him are urging him to run and hide. He articulates the hero’s fear and pride both verbally and in every subtle change of expression. Like our disabled friends and the exhibitors at CES 2025 he clearly understands that there’s more than one way to make our voices heard. And ultimately what saves him isn’t just his own courage but also the courage of the woman who stands by him. Gary Cooper may have done what he had to do, but he couldn’t get it done alone. Neither could Tony Soprano. Neither can I and neither can you. Luckily, we don’t have to. Talk to me.