Right now, we’re deep into basketball season, and I’m lovin’ life! I have many fond memories associated with this sport. At the same time, I’m also reminded of a not-so-happy, basketball-related event that taught me a few very valuable life lessons.
Some of you know that I’m a Georgia Tech graduate, and I’ve been active in the local alumni association for a long time. Years ago, the GT basketball team made it to the Final Four. It was an exciting time for all Yellow Jacket fans, of course, but, because the team was so successful, the coach at that time was a “hot commodity” for lots of other basketball fans, too. Like many cities, Birmingham has a couple of clubs that promote basketball and often invite college coaches to come speak to their members. One of those clubs invited our head coach to speak at a luncheon, and one of the members asked me to introduce him.
I was honored and excited to do this and began preparing immediately.
I first asked the member who had called me, “How long of an introduction do you want?” He said, “About five minutes.” While that sounded like a long introduction (too long, really), I said OK.
In order to craft an introduction of that length I knew I’d have to do some research, so I hit up the Internet. I made notes about our coach’s family and where he grew up. I looked into how he got into coaching. I found a bio that allowed me to give an overview of all the places he’d coached along the way.
I timed the introduction I had written, and it still wasn’t five minutes. So I decided to add a couple of “fun facts” about our coach. I rehearsed several times, and my intro was exactly five minutes long. While it still felt like too much, I was ready for the big day.
Then came the luncheon. They called me up to the podium, and I began my introduction. After about three minutes, I could feel the audience become fidgety. Around about four minutes, one person mumbled something that sounded like “hurry up.” By the time I was finished, I think I was three seconds away from being booed off the stage. In fact, there were several people encouraging me to stop talking and just bring on the coach!
Walking back to my seat, I was embarrassed. I’m sure my face was red. Even the coach was a little cold to me following that extra-long introduction.
After a while (several days later), I calmed down. And I examined exactly what had gone wrong in this not-so-funny comedy of errors.
First of all, I had ignored my instincts. I knew five minutes was too long for the introduction, but I went along with what I had been told. And the person who told me to talk for five minutes wasn’t really to blame. He was simply a volunteer who was asked to get someone to introduce the coach. He didn’t know how long the intro should be, so he just guesstimated. I knew better.
I also know that less is usually more. I should have been brief. When introducing someone—especially when everyone already knows who the speaker is—the Five Bs are the best way to go: Be brief, baby, be brief. The coach was the star that day; he was the reason everyone was there. It really didn’t matter what I said as long as I didn’t say too much.
I re-learned a few valuable lessons that day. I’ve never forgotten them again.
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