Speech on Abraham Lincoln
I was asked to give a speech on Abraham Lincoln, which I thought it was strange because I am not any kind of expert on Lincoln. Nevertheless, I thought I could wing it. The speech was meant not only to commemorate him, the great statesman, but also to eulogize our great country and dedicate a new room in the library or a statue or some such. I was to give the speech in a public forum: the library or university.
I was worried that it would not go well because I had a bad cold, or at least my throat was very hoarse for some reason, and I thought it would be hard for people to hear me. The podium was in the middle of a large room so the audience surrounded me and I had to speak glancing around in all directions. The acoustics were not good either and I almost had to yell to be heard.
To make things even more difficult, the lights in the library were shut completely off before I started, leaving the room pitch black. The objective was to ‘bring on the lights’ when the exhibit was unveiled. In one way this was actually good because then I knew I wouldn’t have to speak long. After all, I was only making an introductory or commemorative speech anyway. Short and sweet: that was my plan.
The speech actually began very well. I told about how Lincoln helped to forge the great nation that we live in today; how the freedoms we have and how wonderfully affluent our society had become because of great men like Abraham Lincoln. I spoke with enthusiasm and emotion. The crowd was enraptured and I was pleased with how it was going. Near the end of my speech, a few people in the audience began to ask questions or make comments. The subject turned to war, specifically the world wars. Japan was mentioned.
One man said something about ‘Hanoi Jane’ and how she really made our relations worse with Japan. I couldn’t figure out what in the heck he was talking about, after all, our war with Japan was in the 1940’s, World War II, and they were our allies by the time Jane Fonda began demonstrating about the war in Vietnam. What did any of it have to do with Abraham Lincoln or my speech? I thought the guy was probably nuts. I shook my head, realizing it was time to wind downbefore people started getting worked up over nothing. I feared a riot!
I was worried that it would not go well because I had a bad cold, or at least my throat was very hoarse for some reason, and I thought it would be hard for people to hear me. The podium was in the middle of a large room so the audience surrounded me and I had to speak glancing around in all directions. The acoustics were not good either and I almost had to yell to be heard.
To make things even more difficult, the lights in the library were shut completely off before I started, leaving the room pitch black. The objective was to ‘bring on the lights’ when the exhibit was unveiled. In one way this was actually good because then I knew I wouldn’t have to speak long. After all, I was only making an introductory or commemorative speech anyway. Short and sweet: that was my plan.
The speech actually began very well. I told about how Lincoln helped to forge the great nation that we live in today; how the freedoms we have and how wonderfully affluent our society had become because of great men like Abraham Lincoln. I spoke with enthusiasm and emotion. The crowd was enraptured and I was pleased with how it was going. Near the end of my speech, a few people in the audience began to ask questions or make comments. The subject turned to war, specifically the world wars. Japan was mentioned.
One man said something about ‘Hanoi Jane’ and how she really made our relations worse with Japan. I couldn’t figure out what in the heck he was talking about, after all, our war with Japan was in the 1940’s, World War II, and they were our allies by the time Jane Fonda began demonstrating about the war in Vietnam. What did any of it have to do with Abraham Lincoln or my speech? I thought the guy was probably nuts. I shook my head, realizing it was time to wind downbefore people started getting worked up over nothing. I feared a riot!
posted by elkdreamer at 1:11 PM
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