Friday, May 3, 2013

100-Word Memoir: The Terror of Public Speaking


In public speaking, you don’t get to memorize a script. As a kid, that petrified me.

One day, Mom gave me an hour to prepare an oral report about the Vikings. I spent the hour hiding in the closet so she wouldn’t hear my sobbing. When I stood up in front of her and my siblings, a cold sick feeling seized me. I broke into hysterics.

Five years later, I took the stage for a 200-person crowd and, in a relaxed tone, gave an unrehearsed speech to introduce a play. 

The transformation boils down to two words: drama class. 

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