Stuttering MC

I amceed the recently held English parliamentary style debate final at my school and made a botch of it. 

Everything went well in the first and middle parts of my job. I was fluent in addressing the guest of honour, and filling the audience in on the objectives of the competition. I left the job of chairing the debate to a student, who did her job with panache and flair. Right after the debate, nerves silently got the better of me without warning. I invited everyone to rise and sing the National Anthem, but accidentally left out the Sarawak State anthem in my announcement. The alert PA system teacher sensed something amiss and played the song on the heels of Negaraku, thus saving me from disgrace. 

Towards the end of the occasion, I made a mistake again but this time nobody came to my rescue. How does the whole thing go? Well, as soon as the guest of honour had given away prizes, I was getting ready to acknowledge her gesture by saying thank you, but all of a sudden, I could not bring myself to say it. It seemed to weigh a ton on the tip of my tongue and I could feel swarms of butterflies beating against my rib cage. Having struggled for a few seconds, I managed to utter it, but to my shock and horror, what I heard was "Tha.....tha...tha...." and the audience dissolved into laughter. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead and I could feel some tears of shame welling up in my eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to pull myself together, apologize and thank the guest of honour. I could feel blood draining from my face and my fingers shaking.  Why? It was not the first time I became an MC. Why did I make such uncharacteristic faux pas?

When everything had ended, I bolted into the staffroom, retired to my desk and buried my head in my arms.  My principal, Ketua Bidang and PK curriculum told me not to be too hard on myself but I was inconsolable.

Comments

suituapui said…
It gets better with practice...and age, not a problem at all, small matter. Happens to the best of us.
March 8, 2015 at 4:23 PM
sintaicharles said…
Thanks, Arthur, for your comforting words.
March 8, 2015 at 8:58 PM
sintaicharles said…
Thanks, Arthur, for your comforting words.
March 8, 2015 at 8:58 PM
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