sometimes, when i do presentations at work, i feel like i’m doing stand-up. the crowd is engaged from the beginning? i get laughs when i should? all is good, and i’m on a roll. i am charming and delightful, engaging, informative, witty. but if the crowd stares at me with dead eyes, unmoved by my presentation, i start trying harder. like an untalented comic frustrated by my lack of success, the jokes start to stray and come more frequently. we go for the cheap laugh, and maybe, just maybe, we get a bit hysterical at the end. and then i just hate the whole crowd.
