I could let my gaze wander while I was speaking, but would always return to that one person. When I finished with the question and answer session, there was again, applause. I knew I had done well, and was booked for a repeat performance. From that trial by fire, forward, I would never again find myself terrified of a live audience. Yes, I get nervous, but it is not a gnawing fear that I, and many other people had shared.
Nerves are good.
They help you think of details you might otherwise forget. Know your subject, prepare both intellectually and emotionally, speak with confidence, and be sincere, whether you mean it or not. The next hurdle was the Television Camera. I had spent a lot of time behind a camera, as a still photographer, and as a fill in studio camera operator for a Washington, DC television station, but the front of one was a different story. Again, some rules apply.