“I think when you are shy there’s something very attractive about putting yourself in a situation where you’re comfortable and where you’re in charge and where you’re communicating with people. I think shy people often feel that they’re not getting across, that people aren’t understanding them because they don’t have the social graces to be able to hold a conversation easily, whereas if you’re a stand-up comic you’re completely in charge.
You’ve thought of things to say and people have to sit down and listen to you.”
Victoria Wood
Substitute “preacher” for “stand-up comic” and that’s a quote I’d be proud of. Preaching has been enormously important in shaping my Christian life and service, and also my career.
As a teenager I was gauche and awkward in social situations (no change there!), but a few people took a chance on my preaching. Perhaps they were influenced by my family (“We know his father and his grandfather and his uncles and his great uncle and his first cousin once removed, and they’re all fine preachers, so Ian must be worth a try.”) Perhaps I benefited from a culture where young men were given opportunities to test their preaching gift. Or perhaps it was the insight of men like Walter Baxter, James Bathgate and Tom Glass who first asked me to preach and persisted despite my shortcomings.
Preaching gave me a voice. It gave me confidence. It demonstrated that in more formal settings I could string together the words that failed me in social groups. It showed that I have some gift for helping people understand things they find difficult. And when the opportunities came to apply what I’d learnt from preaching in a business context, I found that I could present, make videos and appear on TV and radio without falling flat on my face.
I still find social situations very hard. I find it difficult to keep a one-to-one dialogue going unless the other person makes the running. In a group of three there’s a very good chance I’ll be the quiet one. And with many more than that I’m likely to be virtually silent (I never became comfortable representing my company at industry meetings). I guess people expect confidence on a platform to be reflected in social confidence too, but it’s not and actually it doesn’t work the other way either – some of the most sociable people I’ve known became bundles of nerves if asked to speak in public,
There’s just one question that bugs me: could I have made a career of being a stand up comic?
OneFiveThree 