listening..

After a few times of speaking in front of a congregation, i realized something.. some of us has gotta learn to listen! There are sooo many courses and programs on making a person an eloquent speaker, ways on how to catch ppl's attention, conveying your points and so on.. but seldom, or nvr do we hear of courses to teach ppl how to be a good listener. Same goes for leadership. Its always "leadership training", and nvr "follow-ship" training. If everyone is gonna lead, who is gonna be lead? If everyone is gonna speak, who is gonna listen?

And so, my experience in giving a report, testimony or sharing in front of the church is not something i look forward to. One has got to realize, this is a youth speaking. We have doctors, teachers, and all sorts of high profiled occupation ppl looking at u.. that gives enough pressure.. Second, when u are up there, damn.... u can see everyone's faces! that..is super scary.. Sweat will be dripping down your back, your throat will feel like dry bones, and your brain cant seem to take over the situation. its like pure adrenaline!

I wonder whether pastor gets scared when he gives his sermon..everyone is staring at you.. if that is not enough, some will be frowning! and some will do the "what-u-talking-about" face.. It feels like u are being critically analyzed by hundreds of eyes and experienced critiques.. Lucky for me, there are a small fraction of mainly teachers who know how to listen. they smile and nod when u speak.. phew.. a relieve to fix ur eyes on these angels when u r up on stage. thank u for smiling..

Back to my point, we need to learn to listen.. when someone is talking, smile.. put on ur best face and analyze that individual secretly in ur brains.. nod to show that u understand what that person is talking.. frown, for a litttlllee while if the person speaks nonsense.. not frown the whole way like that person is talking the most ridiculous thing ever! and later, give feedback to the person if u have something in mind.. dont start a gossip group about it.. it wont do any good as the person who really needs to hear it wont know.. and so, this is also an expect which i need to learn..especially the facial expression. i tend to have a flat blank face when i listen to somone giving a speech.. One lesson for the day! cheers!