In high school choir as a sophomore, all choir members were supposed to do a performance for the rest of the choir, as a part of the grade. I put it off as long as I could and when I stood in front of 30 of my best friends, I took a breath, opened my mouth and nothing came out. I eventually said I'm sorry, and sat down.

I made up the grade by recording the concerts. And I will always respect anyone who can get up in front of a crowd and communicate, whether musically or verbally.

I have a bit of trouble with people who want nothing more than to be admired, but those who can perform make my living possible!

<L>

"She had lost the art of conversation, but not, unfortunately, the power of speech." - George Bernard Shaw

Lou Judson - Intuitive Audio
415-883-2689

On Nov 16, 2013, at 8:56 AM, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:

> This isn't me!
> I gave a presentation at ARSC years back and felt I completely failed. I had lots of interesting slides but a public speaker I'm not. I wrote and then spoke the presentation, taped it and then transcribed it (with corrections). Then I practiced it till I was comfortable with it. When presentation time came I got so nervous I ended up reading the damn thing and even bored myself! It's a good thing I didn't get up there with no notes at all. Sheesh!
> What gets me is I'm not a bad extemporaneous speaker and my tang usually doesn't get tungled in my eyeteeth when speaking with friends, but I'm a flop at prepared public presentations. And that despite the fact I was a professional musician for years.
> I really do appreciate those that are good at it, though.
> Malcolm
> 
> *******