LEV658 Furthermore, I feel it necessary to write openly about the following issue, because I have noticed that many people are in the habit of acting improperly in this regard. When a person delivers a speech in the beis hamidrash, it is halachically forbidden to ridicule him by saying that his speeches have no substance and there is no point in listening to them. Unfortunately, we see that many people are careless in this area, and do not consider such ridicule to be at all forbidden. Yet the halakhah is that this is considered full-fledged lashon hara, because such remarks are liable to cause another person financial damage, as well as distress and embarrassment in some cases. Furthermore, even if what the speaker says is true, we know that lashon hara is forbidden even if the information is true [unless there is a constructive intention, but] what constructive intention could this scoffer have with his ridicule? On the contrary, if he is a sincere person, then he should approach the one who gave the speech afterward in private and advise him to use a different style of speaking, for his current style is ineffective. By giving such advice, he would also be fulfilling the mitzvah of  וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמֹ֑וךָ, “You shall love your fellow as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18). At the very least, he should not turn this public speaker into a laughingstock.