Every time I standup, I fall down
Ah, standups. One of the hardest challenges I've faced so far as an intern at the local news station.
What is a standup, you ask?
Well, you know how at the beginning and end of most packaged broadcast news, the reporter says a few quick lines for the intro and outro, followed by something like "In Newsville, this is Joe Doe, Channel 1 News"? That, all stuck together, is a standup.
You try to come up with something clever to say, but if you're like me you're too nervous to even remember what you're reporting on. Let's just say that when I did my first standup, it took me about 30 tries to get it right. Either I'd mispronounce or mess up the name of the building (it was called the "something-something Grade School," and I kept calling it the "something-something Elementary School"), or I'd forget what I wanted to say halfway through (because I was thinking so hard about what I didn't want to say), or I'd cough, or I'd try to walk while speaking and trip, or I'd forget to tack on the "location-name-station" tagline, or...
Well, you get the picture. Who knew it was so hard, right? Sheesh.
Fortunately, the photographer I was with that day was incredibly understanding. He just kept guiding me through it, try after try, until I finally got it right. I felt horrible and apologized profusely for my mistakes, but he just kept on reassuring me that it was to be expected, since it was my first time.
On the bright side, the other intern who was with us on the assignment--one who had already performed a lot of standups at a previous internship--had a little trouble, too. I know, it's terrible to think that way, but it did help me feel better. (Sorry, fellow intern. You still have me beat, though.)
Well, in any case, that's no excuse for a poor performance from me, so I've been working hard at home, practicing reading things aloud and doing mock standups, so when the time comes for me to do another, I am better prepared. After all, every time you fall down, you're supposed to standup--er, I mean, stand up--again, right?
In the Seton Hill Blogosphere, Chris Ulicne, Noob News.