Speaker or Listener’s Fault?

Has anyone ever attended any seminars, talks or official ceremony, where some kind of “important person” will be giving a super boring speech in front? I’m sure every one of us has experienced such situations before.

So, what will you do in such situation? Will you give the least and basic respect to the person talking in front by not making any unnecessary noise even if the speech is so dull? Or will you such start a small forum with the people around your seats since the speaker failed to catch your attention? Well, I won’t deny that I do occasionally make some noise under such circumstances.
It so happened that during one formal ceremony in my school, where there were first year students, senior students and alumni’s all attending the ceremony. And as usual, a speech from the school authority’s representative is part of the protocol. Half-way into her speech, I realized that the hall was getting noisier and noisier. And the funny thing is; those who were making noise were not the juniors but the alumni’s, who are all working adults. A few are even successful enough to own their own company.

I just couldn’t make out the logic when youths knows how to give the basic respect to someone who’s talking in front of a hall, while people, who already step into the working world with quite a bit of achievements doesn’t know how to keep their mouth shut when someone is giving an official speech. In that case, what makes them successful anyway?

However, the ceremony continues with a testimony from an alumnus, by sharing his experience and some tips to success. This time round, his speech manage to grasps the attention of the audience. Every one is following his talk with laughter as he knows how to make his speech humourous and interesting.

Thoughts then ran through my mind. Is it the speaker’s fault for not being able to catch the attention of the listeners? Or should the listener’s at least give the basic respect the speaker deserves by staying mute? Which is more difficult? Talking in front of a crowd? Or stay focus when someone is delivering a mind-numbing speech?