There is a tradition on Saturday Night Live where when a guest host steps out for their fifth monologue, past 5 timers come out and present them with a jacket and membership in an elite club.
Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Paul Simon, Drew Barrymore, Justin Timberlake, Scarlett Johannsen...you get the idea.
Tom Hanks, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Paul Simon, Drew Barrymore, Justin Timberlake, Scarlett Johannsen...you get the idea.
Here's Dwane Johnson's 5th to give you an idea:
So you can understand my excitement when I was accepted to speak at FDIC2019. Not only did I have the opportunity to share my content with some of the most motivated Firefighters, Officers and Chiefs, attend world class seminars on leadership and operations and see countless vendors...
...I was gonna get my five timers jacket.
Room 105-106 was staffed by two energetic volunteers who learned quickly that putting on a Little Rascals video and telling passersby what the content of the course was, actually does help the undecided choose a class sometimes!
I began my introduction, knowing any moment that Bobby Halton would come walking in with that jacket and the cadre of FDIC instructors.
Alas, an hour and 40 minutes later as I wrapped up the radio report scenarios I came to the realization that it is was not meant to be. I had, however, been far more relaxed for the content, which led to a better class for the attendees.
Teaching at FDIC is stressful, I won't lie. From the moment you submit a topic and begin designing the content the stress of speaking for almost 2 hours to other experts is intimidating. But I can now say, from experience teaching 3 different topics of my 5 years, it does get a little easier. Still stressful, but the technicality of it gets easier. Public speaking gets easier the more you do it and the more people you do it to.
2019 was my largest class, 61 reviews, and was during the opening hours of the show floor, a prime time for folks to get out and see all the cool stuff instead of grabbing a class.
Speaking of cool stuff, I bumped into the Fox Fury folks to say thanks for letting my review the Discover Tilt and they gave me a brand new, not even for sale yet, light to review. Stay tuned for that.
Special thanks to the crew at FDIC, Bobby Halton and Ginger Mendolina especially, and my fellow instructors for always being welcoming and supportive.
With any luck...see you next year for an EXTENDED MCI program. After all, Alec Baldwin has hosted SNL 18 times...why stop at 5?
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