THE LEADER (2): Be Not Afraid of Their Faces

By Matthew Ujah-Peter

I have taken part in officially organised plays only twice in my entire life till date. The first one was in my primary school, in which I played a very, very minor role, during our send-off party after our First School Leaving Certificate Exams. I still wonder why I had to be a part of that play. I don’t remember saying any important line that day.  The second one was a French language play in my junior years in high school and I played the lead role. I wasn’t picked for the role because of any particular acting talent I had, but only that I was a better French language student. 'Monsieur Adesanya', our French teacher, whose classes I indeed enjoyed in those days, happened to be the writer/director of the play. But for his constant and tireless drilling, shyness would have had the better part of me. Even though rehearsals went on for days, I couldn’t reach the peak of my confidence. But on the day of the Lagos state French education event in which we were to participate, several schools, including ours, weren’t called up due to lack of time. Thank God for that ‘miracle’, because while I counted down to our turn to perform, I was still working on myself convincing myself that I could act on that stage in front of the crowd.

Whether it is a drama presentation, speech making or recitation before an audience, facing an audience to deliver or make a presentation is still a daunting task today for even professionals. Especially, if the audience is not one you are used to, say your church, club, class, etc. But of course, one’s level of confidence soars with the passage of time.There's still butterflies in most public speakers’ bellies each time they face new audiences. A common advice, for those starting out in public speaking, is to look over the head of the people, possibly at the wall opposite you which is behind them. Additional helpful tip is to quickly scan the audience in search of a person whose face look friendly and/or interested and connect with him or her temporarily as if you are discussing with him/her and then switch over to another till you can make more friends in the audience.

While this may not come very, very easy at the beginning, it is a good way to go because, I tell you, there are certain faces in some audiences that are very intimidating. So terrifying are some of the faces that it sometimes might seems as though they came just to terrify you. They hardly smile, laugh or even nod their heads slightly, no matter how funny, interesting or profound you might think you are sounding. You think you did your research and prepare very well nights and nights to climb that stage to speak till you encounters those faces. Sometimes you would want to quickly finish your speech and run away that if you aren’t careful, you will skip so many lines in your power points.

This is one reason why professional speakers usually start their speeches with an interesting story or a joke to break the ice. A few tricks work to win total stranger and bring apathetic members of audience to your side than this one. 

But thank God, I started out my public speaking from church setting where we were coached to take cover under the help of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I know. This is not every one’s cup of tea, but it works, big time. You might have other explanation as to how or why it works, but thank God, it works. As I once described it to a friend, it was as if we were injected with steroid and let loose. After my life in the Spirit Seminar in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal group and hands were laid on me, I lost all fears of facing the crowd. As a young man in my late teen and early twenties then, I used to tell those whose listening ears I could secure that I can speak to any audience, including the United Nations general assembly. And they were kind enough not to argue, at least not to my face.

Why did I go this length and what am I talking about? I have heard people told me not to care or worry about what people say in matters that required taking an unpopular stand. They would say, ‘’so, you are bothered by what people say?’’ or ‘’why do you care about what people say about you?’’ How many who say that really stand their ground when the push of societal and family pressures comes to shoves? How many can defy ‘’cultural law of gravity’’? How many can truly stick to their guns in the face of stormy oppositions? Even God recognises the devastating effects of standing alone apart from or against the majority; hence He had once admonished one of His prophets thus:

'' Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.'' - Jeremiah 1:8 (KJV)

And it is from this advice that I took the title to this message under this leadership series. By using the example of the speaker and his new audience, I mean not to imply that the speaker is opposed to the audience or vice versa. But it is similar to the initial tension and lack of connection that exist between those who  challenge the status quo and dare to offer new  ideologies and ways of thinking and proposing that people abandon what they know to be age-old heritage in favour of their new ways of thinking and living. This is especially so in Africa. The pressure that a public speaker faces - especially one starting out newly or facing a strangely new audience and / or culture - is only but a snippet of that which a person suffers in life who takes an unpopular position in life issues. He stands alone. Even friend who have some degree of belief in his ideologies would hardly dare to stand with him openly. They may stand aloof to see if he will break, bend or stand to the end. If he proves his mettle to the end, of course, supporters will emerge from their hidings, first, in drops and trickles and then in torrents, if he refuses to stand down or back down.

This is the core of the principle of leadership. If you will challenge the crowd, in my opinion, you must have an iron for backbone. People will wonder at the beginning: ‘’who is he? What has this individual got to say? What are his qualifications? What are his past achievements?’’, etc, etc. But as you continue standing your ground, refusing to back down, you get to change apathy to empathy, hostility to friendship and casual observers to ardent partners, over time.Truth is enduring, so must those who proclaim it. You, like the truth you stand for, must stand the test of time. Even, if what you say was rejected along with your person. Even if you are spited along with your ideologies, discouragement, though an easy option, must not be given in to. I have made the mistakes of being intimidated by faces of those in high office, but when after summoning the courage to speak to them the truth that I believe they must hear, I find the facades of rugged facial expressing cracked before my very eyes. Truth is not the products of man. It preexisted all of us – from the first Homo sapiens that thronged the surface of this planet to the modernist. Since truth is superior to us all, those who hold it must not feel inferior for it. Truth doesn’t belong to anyone and it is not made up or fabricated. Only lies are fabricated.

It is not easy to always speak and stand by the truth in this sentiment-infested world of ours any more than it had being in the past. Therefore, everyone is getting more and more economical with it. Worst still is the fact that those who want to hear the truth are even very few. And the voices on our streets are crying: ’truth is dead,’ ’no one speaks the truth anymore,’ ‘it is not easy to find truthful people anymore,’ and so on. The sure reason for this scarcity of truth is that people are afraid of faces – the consequence of telling it as it is. It is the leaders that are custodians of truth, and so, must boldly declare it - truth that will benefit and even save all. Any leader who is low on the supply of truth is lacking a great deal in his leadership roles. The followers can only demand for truth if they know what truth looks or sounds like. There is a new crop of leaders, though, that do not have official post or position but who lead, anyway. They lead from the background. They don’t need official post to recognise themselves as leaders. Their number one instrument and weapon is TRUTH. They are the leaders who tell the truth, irrespective of consequences. They are not afraid of faces. Anybody whose heart yearns for the truth can subscribe to this.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!