When I went out on the road speaking as a professional I worked hard on my introduction with whomever was given the job of introducing me to an audience. I would endeavor to get them to do a little rehearsal with me. I’d show them what to emphasize, how to present the humor and then wait for a laugh. Often they couldn’t even remember my name.
One day I was speaking in Lansing, Michigan and I believe it was the Michigan School Counselor’s Association. There were prized students from all over Michigan being honored from grades 1 thru 12, many proud parents and the honorees’ teachers, plus a number of top people from the State of Michigan Education System. I didn’t want to just survive, my goal was to touch their lives and keep everyone’s attention for forty five minutes.
About half an hour before the meeting began a young lady approached me, introduced herself and said, “They have asked me to introduce you, Art. Do you have a printed introduction? I said sure and handed her a printed sheet. I’d worked on this introduction for many years and I had made a few changes in it just for this occasion. Near the end of the intro it read, “Art is the author of a popular poem and rather than read it myself I will let someone else do that. You just might recognize the voice. (Offstage I would play a tape made when Paul Harvey, a popular national radio news commentator read my verse to his multi-million daily audience of listeners. This lovely young lady asked, “May I read this aloud to you?” She read it with great enthusiasm. I played the tape and at the end of the tape she said, “And now ladies and gentlemen, students too, here he is from Battle Creek, Michigan, Art Fettig.
She did it perfectly. She pronounced my name correctly. She had a great voice. I figured there was no way she could improve on it but she asked politely. “May I try it again?” It was better but when she finished she still asked if she could try it again. She read that thing five times, aloud.
Lunch was served and then they introduced the President of the Association. I’d say she was a good speaker. The children were all silent and attentive. The whole audience was polite for about a minute and then horror struck. The audience was getting antsy. One of the folks at the head table beside the speaker started talking to one next to him. One actually slid his newspaper in front of him and began reading. The kids started running around the hall, many others headed for the bathrooms. Almost instantly she had lost the attention of most of the audience. Graciously she abandoned her notes and finished abruptly, sitting down to meager applause.
Up stepped that young lady who had rehearsed my intro with me. She had no notes. She smiled, then stood back and bellowed out just like a Circus Barker delivering that intro with great enthusiasm and humor. Students! Parents! Proud Teachers! Honored members and guests! The audience was still and attentive and when she hit a humor line she waited and there was a roar of laughter and the kids laughed too. The tape segment with Paul Harvey worked perfectly when she hit the last line of that intro, “From Battle Creek. Michigan, Art Fettig” everyone in that big room applauded with excited enthusiasm.
For me it was awesome. She had worked a miracle. Those forty five minutes sped by and all too soon our time was up and they were all applauding, those students from 12 grades, their parents and teachers and those State school officials. That was by far the best introduction I had received in my entire career. Her words are still ringing in my ears now decades later. “Can we try it again?” “Can we try it again?” I’m still practicing.
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