I’m a talent wrangler for Imagine This! Once a month we invite local acts to share their talent before a studio audience. The show is edited and then replayed on our local cable TV channel. My job is to find and invite performers.
Last Thursday Ron, our emcee, missed our recording session. I sent a text – no response – and it slowly dawned on me that I would be the emcee. I had gone to the show “extra casual” that evening. My hair was a mess, I had no makeup on, my shirt had too “busy” a design for TV, and I hadn’t written down the information that the emcee usually announces.
While the final act recorded, I scrambled: I dug through my purse to find whatever makeup might be available. I set my camera on “selfie” mode to use as a mirror. (Many thanks to whichever high school student showed me that trick!) I wrote notes about the performers. Ron always ended with an inspirational story of some kind — what could I close with? By the time I needed to be ready, I had a little makeup, a comb through my hair, and a vague idea of something to say.
I remember closing with, “That’s our show. You know, every one of our performers tonight started at the same place. They said, ‘I wonder if I can?’ ‘I wonder if I can play that guitar?’ ‘I wonder if I can write a song?'” I don’t remember a syllable that I said after that, but everyone in the studio was watching intently, and someone asked later if I planned a career as a motivational speaker! I had to smile.
They didn’t know I was thinking, “I wonder if I can get through this?”
From now on, it’s back to my Girl Scout motto: be prepared!