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PUBLIC SPEAKING resources for you
Public Speaking: Be Careful
I was doing a public speaking engagement for 3200 people in California and it was a really big deal. I had a two stage managers with headsets counting down 30 seconds till show time, a personal assistant and complete video crew for tape and image projection. Everything was hustle and bustle and rush, rush, rush.
I had another bunch of assistants who, on cue, were going to distribute plastic glow stars so the whole room would be lit with the stars for the grand finale where I had blacked out the room.
The entire production went off without a hitch. People had a great time. Afterwards I was busy shining my halo . . . .until the production company head came up to me and said, "We have a problem." . . . . I did not have a clue what he meant. He told me the assistants were throwing the stars into the crowd and one of them struck an attendee in the eye and scratched his cornea. . . .
Talk about your heart sinking. No one knew if he was going to be OK or not. He was on his way to the hospital. . . . It was six weeks before he found out if the damage was permanent or not. Luckily he ended up with a badly scratched cornea and he is perfectly alright now. I had let all the hoopla get in the way of my normal briefing of my assistants and it almost cost someone their eyesight . . . BE CAREFUL!
