S is for Speech

She had rewritten the speech at least five times. He watched as she starting changing words again, then closed the window and stomped off.

businesswoman during presentation
Photo by Los Muertos Crew on Pexels.com

“What’s going on?” he asked after he caught up to her in the kitchen.

“I suck at writing speeches. I suck even more at giving them and this one is really important. The whole department is counting on me and I know I’m going to blow it.”

He hugged her from behind. “Have you tried the old trick of imagining them in their underwear?”

She turned around with a shocked look on her face. “No! I’m nervous enough without trying to ‘not’ see the CEO in his tighty whities. OMG… Or worse, his secretary in granny panties.”

He couldn’t help it–he burst out laughing. “Valid point. Is naked better?”

She covered her eyes. “No. Just…no.”

“Well, I want to help. Why don’t you give your speech to me? I’m sure it’s a lot better than you think it is and you can practice. Get some of the nerves out.”

She reluctantly went to grab her laptop and pulled it up. She read it off with the energy of a sloth. He stopped her partway through. “I know you think this is silly and are dreading it, but I really want to help. What can I do?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish they would ask someone who is good at this.”

“They chose you because you know it the best. It’s not about the best words. It’s about the passion behind the project. Just tell me about it in your own words.”

She put it aside and went through the whole proposal. When she was finished, she shrugged. “See? It’s still not good.”

“But better. Hmm…” He stood up and started to strip.

“What are you doing??”

“Giving you a better visual than the CEO and his secretary,” he said, smirking. After he was naked, he sat down and nodded. “Try again.”

Giving him a dubious look, she started. She couldn’t help herself, but she started smiling and relaxing into the speech. When she was done, he started clapping. “There’s your speech! That was awesome.”

She laughed. “So you are going to come sit at the back of the room naked while I talk?”

“Whatever it takes.”

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