Tag: speaking

Categories
motivation

Listen First, Speak Last

Cartoon of boy with his mouth taped and a girl

Listen first, speak last.

Peter Drucker in The Effective Executive, page xxiii

I did not expect to find “listen first, speak last” in a book on business leadership. But there it was. Peter Drucker elevated it to a rule for executives to follow.

Listen first, speak last: Cartoon of boy with his mouth taped and a girl

This didn’t play into my stereotype of the brash, bombastic, self-assured, influential executive. Aren’t leaders supposed to be the boss and have people do their bidding? At least that was the excuse I used when I tried to reason why some are leaders and others are followers.

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Categories
writing

What About You, Quiet Guy?

"What About You, Quiet Guy?"

I have no problem admitting it. I’m one of the quiet guys. I wouldn’t call myself, the strong silent type, but I can definitely be the silent, observant one.

The other night, my wife and I were out with friends. We were having a good time cutting up and catching up on the lives of kids and grandkids. The waitress came over to get our orders. When it was my turn, she said, “And what about you, Quiet Guy?”

I thought that was quite amusing, yet it took me by surprise. It’s not that I didn’t think the moniker fit. Anyone who has known me can confirm that I’m rarely the boisterous one in a group. Well, that is until I get in front of a group and I can command attention! I love being the loud one when I teach or act. It’s partly because it takes anyone who knows me by surprise.

What surprised me was that she knew that trait about me after a very short time. Plus, I thought I was far from quiet. I was involved in my friends’ conversations and I was participating. However, to an outside observer, I was the quiet one in the group.

Quiet Kid

There was a time when that would have bothered me. I wanted to be the class clown. But I didn’t have the courage and I would have been mortified if it got back to my parents that I disrupted a class. It was much safer to live vicariously through the true class clown.

So instead of being known as the loud student, I was the kid who doodled on the back of assignments and stared out the window. I was the kid that tried to absorb the details of a story and think about what would happen if one detail was different.

Eventually, that led me to be the class cartoonist. I loved seeing my work in print. I noticed that while the class clown got sent to the office, teachers and professors considered the class cartoonist a journalist. What? You could make a living at this?

I have made a good living at it over the years. But for the last several years, I ventured more into writing and less into illustrations and cartoons.

The Quiet Guy

I have plenty to say, but that doesn’t mean I want to be the talker. I like to let my fingers do the talking. And frankly, it’s more fun to get my ideas out on a page and massage them a bit. It is too easy to say something that I may regret later. A flippant comment can wound. Plus, I can edit my written text to say what I want it to. There is value in thinking and considering what I want to say before it goes out to the world.

Maybe I am not always the most talkative guy in the room, but that doesn’t mean I have little to say. Today, I am thanking a waitress for reminding me of the value of the spoken and written word.

Categories
motivation

Are we all being recorded now?

Cartoon of a pastor saying, "I must remind you my sermons are recorded for quality assurance."

When I drew this cartoon, I worked at a call center in Arizona for a time. We had to remind anyone we called that the line could be recorded. It would make me think whenever I would make a call. I wanted to choose carefully the words I would use.

Today, I have noticed when I am on video calls, there is an option to record the conversation. Since we are using electronic communication so much now, I wonder how many times this feature is being used.

Does it matter? If you knew your conversation was being recorded and could be broadcast to the world, would you be kinder, more thoughtful? Perhaps you would think before you speak?

Perhaps it is good to assume we are being recorded. I’ve made an effort to consider this when I create a blog post. Let’s all consider the words we say and how we say them.

Cartoon of a pastor saying, "I must remind you my sermons are recorded for quality assurance."
Categories
webcomic

How to know you aren’t making your point

Cartoon of a business man looking at another with donuts for eyes. the caption says, "I wasn’t getting through to this guy. His eyes were simply glazed over."

In the United States, we are coming back from the Independence Day holiday. Many people are out for summer vacation. You may notice your coworkers aren’t as alert as they were before  break. Sometimes, it’s obvious. Other times, you have to look for subtle cues. Here’s how to know someone isn’t listening to you.

  • Coworker responds to each sentence you utter with, “I’m with you, Sparky!”
  • Coworker still has remnants of exploded fireworks in hair. She keep yelling, “Fire in the hole!” and ducks for cover.
  • Your coworker has replaced his glasses with glazed donuts.
  • When you say “good morning,” your coworker replies, “Why?”

If any of these happen to you, don’t worry. It will take time for your friend to get reacclimated to the environment. In the meantime, have some fun and get your coworker to agree to take on some of your additional workload. You’ll be able to clean your desk before they know what hit them.