Speech by Jerry Durick
Speech The problem with public speaking is the public part, That group there to observe, listen, absorb your words; You know them well, have played that part many times, You feel their discomfort with their passive role; at first They feel a moment of empathy, imagine themselves Alone up there about to speak, then they move on to Discover the nature of the speaker, you this time, and They watch for nervous gestures, any break in your voice, Before they begin to weigh what you have to say; you Know their part, and now at the lectern, podium, pulpit On stage you begin your part, the one you watched often Enough that you can play both parts out in your head, Speaker and the spoken to; you adjust the mike and then Search their faces, search the silence you need to fill and Begin; the things that sounded so good in your head mock You, form an echo, play out in a voice you don’t know, The voice of the stranger you have become, the words Bounce around, lose focus; the other you sits in t...