Thank You, Elmo

So, by now you are probably aware of the fact that I'm taking a speech class at school.  No, I don't have some masochistic urge to do this kind of thing; it's required.

On Thursday, I gave my second speech.  The assignment was to deliver a 5-7 minute informative speech - with visual aids - to the class.  I immediately knew what I wanted to do, but I wasn't so sure how it would turn out.

I practiced my speech on the four basic crochet stitches in front of The Hubbs a couple of times, barely making it long enough to fit the time constraints.  I had major problems with the hook and yarn I had intended upon using, so that had to be changed.  It felt as though we went through it until I was blue in the face.  But in the end, The Hubbs commented that he couldn't really see what I was doing.

What?!  He was ten feet away in my living foom.  How was I supposed to do this in front of a whole classroom and expect them to be able to see it if he couldn't?

The room where our class is held is a "smart" classroom, meaning that there's all sorts of technology hooked up in there.  On a whim, moments before my speech was to begin, I asked Ms. T. if I could use the ELMO machine.  For those of you who are not familiar, an ELMO is similar to an overhead projector with one major difference: it's an actual camera.  No transparencies.  Just put whatever you want to show under the lens, and voila!  It shows up on the projector screen at the front of the room.

For the next five minutes and fifty-three seconds, I proceeded to tell - and show - my entire class how to perform the four basic stitches.  I crocheted as I talked, my hands and work enlarged on the screen next to me as the speech went on.  I brought examples of my finished work, pointing out each of the stitches I had shown the class. 

Anal as I am about preparations, I had five completely filled notecards to guide me through the speech.  I had been worrying about the whole notecard deal...I mean, how was I supposed to crochet (two-handed process no matter how you look at it), talk, make eye contact, not look like I was going to throw up, AND look at notecards?  One of those things just had to go...turns out I didn't look at the notecards once.

And the best part?  I just got my grade last night: 50/50.  Ms. T. even wrote a nice little note at the bottom of her grade sheet saying it couldn't have been easy to demonstrate the stitches real-time with so much else going on, and that she thought I had done a great job.

All I have to say is thank goodness I thought to use the ELMO.