It all started 40 years ago…
April of 1983, I was a junior in high school and I was running for President of the Student Body. My main reason for running for office was to creatively impact more people with the gospel. One month before the election, one of my favorite teachers asked to see me after class. Mr. Riley looked at me with care in his eyes and said, “Todd, there has never been a black Student Body President in the history of Frankford High. I believe that will soon change.” That was all the motivation I needed.
I started preparing for the first speech of my life and I had seven minutes to prove why I would be a good candidate. I was told by my friends to just be me. I had no idea who I was as a speaker, but I was soon to find out how creative I was. I based my speech on Survivor’s hit song, “Eye of The Tiger” and used many phrases of the song throughout my speech. It was entitled “Frankford Already Has The Eye of The Tiger” I had 3 people hold 3 signs for my main points. (FKD is short for Frankford.) The main points were:
Fight hard to assure all grades will have input into future changes
Know that I deeply care about each student and will listen to your concerns
Determined to fulfill all my promises to this remarkable school
After weeks of editing and memorizing I won by a landslide. But there was one story I never told anyone at school. This story was just as powerful as Mr. Riley’s well-timed words. When I told friends at church to pray for me an elderly lady told me a story about a Bible college graduate who was a guest speaker. He was a 4.0 student who knew his theology and doctrine well. He walked up to the pulpit beaming with confidence and pride. When he opened his mouth his voiced cracked and he was quite loud in the beginning. Seeing the concerned looks on people’s faces, he forgot where he was in his message and kept losing his place. The audience went from concern to pity. His 30-minute message turned into a 15-minute disaster. He bowed his head in shame, walked off the platform and sat down in the front row. After the service, this wise elderly lady said to him, “Young man, if you would have gone up like you came down, you would have come down like you went up.” That story motivated me to prepare well in all areas and I still think about it when I speak.
As I prepared my speech, I spoke with over 2,000 students asking them what they wanted in a president. I had no idea according to Treasure’s book, How to be Heard, that “listening promotes intimacy.” [1]. I also had no idea I was helping people “to feel heard, understood, and valued.” [2]. After my speech, I was convinced I had a gift, but I also knew I had a lot to learn.
How to be Heard identifies proven ways to become a powerful speaker, the kind that commands people’s attention and keeps them hanging on every word. These proven ways can help improve both communication skills and our most important relationships. It is a book about how sound, speaking, and listening influence our lives, both positively and negatively. Reading this book was just like reading a deep book on how to connect as a psychotherapist. Therefore, this week, I actually became a better listener of sound.
My Life-coach suggested that since I am a photographer that I begin a photo journal. This has been one of the best ideas of my life because now I use my own pictures of people, places, and nature to draw me closer to God. One of Treasure’s Seven Listening Practices is, Savouring. “There are great benefits to treating your hearing like your sense of taste and smell, becoming discerning about what you experience and seeking out enjoyable sensory encounters.” [3].
Earlier in the week, I sat by a stream and took a picture of it. I listened to the sounds of the water, wind, birds, and small branches falling into the water. I smelled the bark of trees, leaves, and the stream. It was beautiful to connect with the Lord through his creation. Once I got home to print out the picture and tape it in my journal, I focused deeply on the picture and went back to the stream to journal. The water was moving very slow, but I could hear it. I never heard it before but now my ears were more attentive. I savoured every moment. “You may be surprised how many sounds there are that you never noticed before.” [4]. Noticing those “new” sounds became a holy moment.
When I reminisce about what happened 40 years ago this month, I took a risk as a new speaker and black student and found out how creative I was. Forty years later, I’m learning how to improve as a speaker and listener and by listening to my Life-coach, he drew out more creativity to enhance and deepen my walk with the Father. This book has made me a deeper listener of the world around me, especially with people.
[1] Julian Treasure, How to be Heard: Secrets for Powerful Speaking and Listening (Coral Gables, FL: Mango Publishing Group, 2017, 38.
[2] Ibid, 38.
[3] Ibid, 142.
[4] Ibid, 144.
About the Author
Todd E Henley
Todd is an avid cyclist who loves watching NASCAR, photography, and playing Madden football. He is addicted to reading, eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking H2O. His passion is talking about trauma, epigenetics, chromosomes, and the brain. He has been blessed with a sensationally sweet wife and four fun creative children (one of which resides in heaven). In his free time he teaches at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and is the Founder/Executive Director of Restore Counseling Center.24 responses to “It all started 40 years ago…”
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Todd,
I am very intrigued by your photo-journal, your awareness of sound, and the impact of both on your soul. I would love to see the picture you took at the stream. I am not much of a photographer, but I do enjoy taking pictures of places where I have experienced God’s presence. I discovered I have a few favorite spots that God seems very near, thin places. Are there places that have been especially impactful that you return to? What makes them stand out? I have noted in your posts that you often name people that have positively impacted you throughout your life. Your gratitude shines through. Thank you for sharing two more with us.
Hello Jenny. The 6 pictures are for you. Enjoy. The last one is the picture by the stream. My favorite places are anywhere in a wooded area, streams, trees, flowers, or just about outdoors.
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IMG_7062.jpg
The other pics did not show up so I’ll attach them one by one
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Lisaballet.jpg
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/water-drip-off-flower.jpg
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Birdwashing.jpg
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/thrualeaf.jpg
Jenny, here is the photo you asked for at the stream 🙂
https://blogs.georgefox.edu/dlgp/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/fallstream.jpg
Thank you, Todd! These are all so amazing and unique. You captured the beauty of small things. All created and cared for by God. You have a wonderful gift for photography! Stunning!
That’s definitely a compliment coming from you! Thank you sooo much, Jenny! 😊
You to 2000 people as a high school student to understand what was important to them! What a remarkable kid you must have been to understand the importance of hearing your audience before presuming to speak to them.
At work, before I facilitate a complicated meeting, I will often do what we call “sensing sessions;” an interview of sorts with meeting participants where I can introduce myself, what the meeting is going to be about, and surface any questions or concerns they may have. It sounds like the equivalent of what you did as a candidate. When I teach on the subject, I always talk about how this is actually a safeguard for a facilitator. If you have done this prework, you can have so much more confidence in a room… because you are not walking into a room of strangers or unsurfaced issues, because in these sessions, you have made the connections, built relationship and uncovered their concerns. It is a different way of doing what you alluded to in your post: starting with humility can ultimately make you feel confident. What a great paradox.
Thanks for the thoughtful post, Todd!
Hey Jennifer! I like the “sensing sessions” I am officially your disciple and I will do this from now on before meetings and speaking sessions. Excellent idea! Thank you and thanks for your kind gracious words! 😊
I can just see you up there at your school’s podium giving a speech with lines from “Eye of the Tiger!” So freaking awesome!
What struck me in your post was how you are continually learning at all stages of life. I hope I am too. What kinds of things do you hope to learn about in your next season of life – or maybe you don’t yet know what you don’t know.
Hey you well-differentiated leader! Thanks for the encouragement! Excellent question! Right now I’m debating whether or not to start a certification right after this semester is over. Either Infertility Grief or Complex Trauma Certification.
Also, I’m very intrigued about the body being 70% water and what that means for helping people to find healing through water…if that is even possible. I’m definitely interested in this sound thing and the importance of listening with our bodies and how this might bring healing.
Finally, I just bought a new camera and I’m excited to use it as a hobby! But none of this will matter if I don’t get me papers in on time and flunk out of school! 🤣
Great post, Todd. The story the elderly woman told you, telling the guest preacher, “Young man, if you would have gone up like you came down, you would have come down like you went up” was powerful. I need to incorporate that story into my “inner listening” when I prepare for times that I have to speak. To this day, I experience a great deal of anxiety in speaking, and I wrote about that in my blog post. Today, now 40 years later (you gave away your age!) In addition to your preparation and remembering the elderly woman’s story, what else do you do to prepare? Was there something from Treasure that you might add to your repertoire?
Yes Travis, I gave away my age. Sometimes it’s tough being 82 years old and in school. But Moses did it…kinda!
I have included silence and sound more this week. I’m learning to be silent and listen to sound. The sound of the wind, cars, my breath, etc. I’m using my photo journal to sit in silence to observe. I’m learning to be silent in the midst of a hectic school schedule. So I have included those two opposites in my repertoire. Thanks for asking sir.
Hi Todd…great insights and application to what Treasure was offering in his book! I also love that quote from that dear saint! To me, it speaks to the essential characteristic of humility in both our communication and connection with others. Nobody is inclined to listen to a know-it-all….and a know-it-all is never inclined to listen to others! Unless it’s in church!
When I look at a lot of what gets posted online of ‘megachurch’ Pastors…I don’t see a lot of humility. I see confidence, certainty…worse, arrogance and ego…and large swaths of people who want to either be entertained by great oracle skills or simplistically be told what to think and how to live by someone else. I would love to see more humility, curiosity, exploration and still-figuring-it-out from our pulpits….I think that would serve our people well.
Hey Scott, I agree man that humility, curiosity, and exploration are missing in so many Christian circles. For some reason, I tend to think that Canada is way ahead of the U.S. in so many areas and this I thought was one of them. If our leaders could work on vulnerability and humility as a normal part of life it would make a huge difference in our churches. I praise God for men like you who are truly wrestling with how to fulfill the Great Commission with all chaos going on around us! I’m in your corner bro! Keep up the great work!
Wow, I’m kind of jealous of high-school-Todd’s public speaking skills. I’m intrigued by your interests in both photography and in sound. So, how do you integrate the two?
Hey Kim! After all these months, you finally ask me an easy question! Thank you. The question is easy because I don’t know the answer yet. 😊 I will definitely think it through, though.
Todd,
1. I’m borrowing (stealing) the story about the young preacher. Wow. Pure gold. I’ll tell it but more importantly look for every opportunity to live it.
2. I can’t get the song “Eye of the Tiger” out of my head. Thanks a lot!!!
My pleasure bro! 😊
Rising up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger
Todd, I love this! What impresses me of course is your creativity and confidence, but the fact that at that age you did listen! You heard the needs, the dreams, paid attention to your voters! Knowing today Todd I’m sure it was so meaningful to have someone like you listening to 2000 kids! That was amazing. Todd, What sage advice for wisdom would you give a young kid running for office today? Would it be the same or would you add something different considering the times?
Hey Jana! The words of that song gives me goose bumps! Jana, I would tell a young kid to use social media to connect with his student body. For example using Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and setting up a page entitled, “I’m running for President and I want to hear your concerns.” I would even make a 30 to 45 second creative video and include 2 key alumni who loved the school to mention why they feel I would do a great job as President. So what I’m saying is connecting personally with your peers is absolutely necessary. And yes, I would still connect with them in person. Start building friendships with people you don’t normally talk with long before you even run for office. My only regret is I did not personally talk to over 1000 students.