I have heard this statement “quick to listen and slow to speak” countless times and I thought I had been practising it until lately, it occurred to me that I wasn’t.
When I was a medical student, my Anaesthesiology lecturer threw a question at me, a twisted one and I eagerly answered her but little did I know that I was answering wrongly. She told me to think again before giving her another answer. She added, “you are seeking for an already made answer, you should create your own answer. Then I reasoned the question again before answering the second time and this time around, I was right.
Recently at the hospital, a senior doctor, asked me a question, I again rushed to answer and of course the answer was wrong. He said to me, think before you answer, this made me remember my Anaesthesiology lecturer’s words. Then I thought to myself, “you still have this problem, just think alright.” Why am I sharing this story with you? I am because many of us are always in a hurry and that’s why we keep missing things. It might not be getting the answer right, it could be evident in other aspect of our lives.
“Quick to listen and slow to speak” is a sentence that we should always keep at the back of our minds. This will help us in school, at work, family and any type of gathering. In a work setting, you will be dealing with different kind of issues, be it: finding the best treatment for a patient; the reason why the car is faulty as a mechanic; the best market strategy to win customers over as a business personnel; the best way to go about a court case as a lawyer; etc, all these have to do with with reasoning. This doesn’t mean that you should be slow at thinking, in your thinking, you should also be fast about it. The lengthiness of your thoughts is dependent on if you have been studying. In every profession, you still need to study to know what is new. The more you know, the more you increase your speed of thoughts. So I must recommend that you keep studying even if you are done schooling. Actually we are all students in one way or the other. If you disagree to be a student in life, then you are God.
When you get into a meeting, don’t be too quick to show-case your knowledge, study your environment, hear others speak, act like you don’t know and gather as many information as possible. Understand what is being discussed before you open your mouth to speak. You know, when you open your mouth to talk, you tell the whole world who you are. If I am you, I would love to show the world that I am a light, therefore I mind what I say.
A lot of relationships could have been saved if we are quick to listen and slow to speak. She got you angry and then you uttered words to her that you cannot take back. The relationship could get dissolved or it may never remain juicy as it used to be because of your eagerness to talk while you were in rage. The tongue is the most dangerous part of the body, it has the ability to bless and to curse. With the tongue, we profess our feelings to one another. With the tongue, we give commands and people obey us. People can get a glance of who we are through a mere conversation. The tongue is indeed powerful and I won’t joke with it if I were you. I will be conscious of the things I say. It can be difficult at times especially in the state of anger or excitement, but we must not let it control us, rather the other way round. Before you make promises, make sure that you are not overly excited to avoid regrets.
I have made a lot of emphasis on talking, what of listening, are you a good listener? I attended a conference some days ago and I realised that I left that room with nothing because I was not paying attention, it would have been better that I didn’t attend at all. If I am talking to a person and he/she is not listening, I would know. A good listener should be able to make eye contacts, avoid operating your phone while someone is talking to you, I actually find that rude. If you are really listening, you would get the reflex to nod in agreement or disagreement, you would want to ask questions or add to what the person is saying.
Listening and knowing when to speak are the foundation of communication skills. Communication skill is needed at work, school, family and any sort of gathering. Starting now to practise “quick to listen and slow to speak” is among the ingredient that would set you at the top of your game in life.
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