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You are a work in progress

Sep 09, 2016
In a meeting in Orlando a year or so back, John said ‘Linda, can you get Roddy the recordings I’ve done on connecting, I think he’ll find them useful for the work he’s doing?

‘That would be great!’ I said.

When I got them a few weeks later, I couldn’t wait to listen to them. I put the first one in and pressed play.

Who is this talking, I thought to myself.

After a few minutes I realised, it was John! I didn’t even recognise his voice. The content was good, but the delivery, although good by most people’s standards, was nowhere near as good as he is today.

On our next 1-to-1 call I asked him about it. ‘When was that recording from John?’ I asked him.

He thought for a while then said ‘Oh, that must have been early 90s, so about 20 years ago maybe.’

‘Well ..’ I hesitated for a moment, then said ‘I feel a bit weird saying this to you, but you have really come on with your speaking haven’t you!’

‘I have!’ he said. ‘I always had good material, but the delivery has improved drastically .. even from just 5 years ago.’

It was comforting to think that someone like John is still improving after decades of consistent effort. If John is in his late 60s now, then that recording would have been when he was in his late 40s. When he was in his late 20s, he had the 10th largest church in America – so safe assume he was very good then! But 20 years after that, he was unrecognisable from where he is today.

It’s tempting to look at him as he is now and think, he’s done! That’s just how good he is. But he’s still evolving as a speaker and a communicator. He’s still work in progress.

But then we all are. That’s life isn’t it. Life is change.

Listening to a recording of the BBC’s Thought for the Day this morning, the author spoke of the Tibetan sand mandalas ritual that lasts a week. The monks spend the whole week building the most beautiful, intricate, colourful patterns from different grains of sand. And then at the end of the week, when it’s done, one of the monks just wipes it away into a pile. It represents the impermanence of all life.

He then talked about the art of finding beauty in that which is imperfect, transient and incomplete. Or, you could say, to find beauty in our growth .. to find beauty in our training.

Life is change and it really is beautiful if we stop and notice. If we stop trying to insist it should be something else. If it should be finished and perfect!

Our own journeys are one of constant change, constant growth, just like John's. As long as we embark on the journey of growth of course.

John Bingham said ‘The miracle isn’t that I finished, the miracle is that I had the courage to start.’

Whether it’s developing your speaking or anything else, we have got to start haven’t we? We have got to get in the game and then allow ourselves time to grow and change. If the impermanence of life means that we’re always shifting and changing and growing, it means that we will never be done .. and certainly never done right at the start, just because our impatience demands it.

We’ll keep getting better, and that’s the perpetual fun .. and the perpetual frustration of life ..

I guess that’s all just another way of saying, wherever you’re heading, be sure to enjoy the ride!
 
Until next time .. have a great weekend ..

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Communicating is not just about words. We need to think about our body language, tone, and pacing. How we feel impacts the way we speak. Struggling to find the right content makes us ineffective. Great speakers know that becoming an exceptional speaker isn't just an art - it's a process with many essential elements.

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