The President
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is holding their General Conference this weekend. Church members from throughout the world will gather at the convention center in Salt Lake City to listen to talks by the General Authorities and other church leaders. More will be watching on satellite TV and Internet broadcasts as well as audio broadcasts.
Presiding over this gathering and giving several talks will be President Thomas S. Monson. I encourage people to listen to President Monson speak either at LDS.org or on YouTube. He is an excellent speaker and a great storyteller.
You don't have to be a church member or even know much about the LDS faith to appreciate a speech given by President Monson. At age 83 he's been married for nearly 62 years and has three children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He illustrates his points with events taken from his life as well as quotes, poems and lines from musicals.
My favourite talk by President Monson is one he gave about the need to set a good example for children as they are always watching. He told a story of how he was to give a talk and was sitting on the podium as customary waiting for his time to present. He noticed that a young boy in the audience was watching him and was copying what he did. When he crossed his legs, so did the boy. If he rested his chin on his hand the boy followed suit. If he leaned forward towards the speaker the boy did so too.
Finally he caught the boy's eye and held his glance. When he was certain he had the boy's attention, he wiggled his ears. That's what he did during this talk. He stood at the lectern and wiggled his ears. In vain the boy also tried to wiggle his ears and I think eventually gave up.
I never forgot the sight of this very dignified older man, leader of a church now numbering over 13 million members wiggling his ears. It made him seem human. I was used to the kind of church leader that was above the rest of us, not one of us. More important though, I remembered the point of the story and have tried to keep it in mind when I find myself around younger people or those who may look to me as a role model.
Anyone who enjoys or wishes to become better communicators should watch a speech or two by President Monson. You'll see a great example of how to communicate a point and maybe learn a few other things in the process.
(Information about President Monson was taken from his official biography at LDS.org. The membership total was taken from the same site.)
Presiding over this gathering and giving several talks will be President Thomas S. Monson. I encourage people to listen to President Monson speak either at LDS.org or on YouTube. He is an excellent speaker and a great storyteller.
You don't have to be a church member or even know much about the LDS faith to appreciate a speech given by President Monson. At age 83 he's been married for nearly 62 years and has three children, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He illustrates his points with events taken from his life as well as quotes, poems and lines from musicals.
My favourite talk by President Monson is one he gave about the need to set a good example for children as they are always watching. He told a story of how he was to give a talk and was sitting on the podium as customary waiting for his time to present. He noticed that a young boy in the audience was watching him and was copying what he did. When he crossed his legs, so did the boy. If he rested his chin on his hand the boy followed suit. If he leaned forward towards the speaker the boy did so too.
Finally he caught the boy's eye and held his glance. When he was certain he had the boy's attention, he wiggled his ears. That's what he did during this talk. He stood at the lectern and wiggled his ears. In vain the boy also tried to wiggle his ears and I think eventually gave up.
I never forgot the sight of this very dignified older man, leader of a church now numbering over 13 million members wiggling his ears. It made him seem human. I was used to the kind of church leader that was above the rest of us, not one of us. More important though, I remembered the point of the story and have tried to keep it in mind when I find myself around younger people or those who may look to me as a role model.
Anyone who enjoys or wishes to become better communicators should watch a speech or two by President Monson. You'll see a great example of how to communicate a point and maybe learn a few other things in the process.
(Information about President Monson was taken from his official biography at LDS.org. The membership total was taken from the same site.)
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