Talking and Walking
Last week was midterm at the school where I teach speech. Grades are due tomorrow. In the midst of what ought to have been a weekend devoted to grading, I had to make a fast trip to NYC to give the kick-off speech at the Walk for Farm Animals. (Isa, who spoke at the post-walk celebration, posted pictures of the event here).
So here’s an inside look at the fabulous world of public speaking on the run:
Saturday
6-midnight: bus ride to NYC
Sunday
12-1: subway to Washington Heights
1-8: eat, sleep, and play with the cat at the apartment of an absent friend
8: wake up and realize that speech notes are back at home
8-9: subway to event site
9:30: check in with event coordinator
9:30-10:30: drink coffee while reconstructing speech notes
10:30-11:30: catch up with friends attending the event
11:30-11:45: stretch and focus
11:45: showtime
12:15: wave goodbye to departing walkers
12:30: walk in the other direction to Port Authority
1:30-7:30: bus ride back home
My job was to entertain and inspire the walkers. I told stories from the early days of the sanctuary. These are the same stories that will be in my next book. My emotions about those days are very close to the surface, so much so that I teared up several times as I was planning what to say. During the speech, I could tell that some audience members were moved. I was calm while speaking but then was overcome by emotion afterwards. I’m eager to get back to work on that book. But, right now, back to grading…
October 15th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
OH NO! Speech notes at home!! I bet THAT was a yukky feeling… Glad it all worked out…