Around 150 – 200 people, mostly middle-aged professionals, sit in a large hall room with a large stage at front. The people talk in friendly voices, waiting for a presentation to begin.
ANNOUNCER steps to podium, a projector fan starts up, and a blue warm up logo begins appearing on the screen.
ANNOUNCER
(Speaks into microphone) Ahem. Hold on. It’s not going through. Wait. Okay. Okay. It’s on, thanks! Hi everyone. Welcome to today’s Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking session. Last night’s talk was great and I hope you can meet us at the Mercken Hall tonight. We have a lot of great speakers. I know lots of you are wondering… but, first, sorry, before I go on, can I get a raise of hands: who here isn’t a vampire?
In the audience, about 20 hands slowly rise, accompanied by confused looks and awkward laughter.
ANNOUNCER
(Counts in head quickly, nods and looks to audience.) That’s great, good to see. Okay boys, GET ‘EM!