Once upon a time...

So there I was, stumped at how I'm gonna capture the attention of the small but important audience in the room.

The presentation slide was staring back at me, the words daring me to repeat them back to the floor. The fonts challenging me to a battle for the attention of the audience. It was threatening to turn into a borefest.

A friend sits me down to tell me as much during the rehearsal. I had 30 minutes before the real thing starts. It was counting down to the last 15 when it struck me.

Tell a story. One that I know well, where I know the characters inside out. One that would engage them, and tickle their funny bones at times. One that would inspire them, lift them out from the mundane dribble that was 10 minutes worth of slides before me.

I told them the story of Arsenal Football Club.

Fitting it into my presentation got much easier as the minutes went by. I was not reading from an index card, I didn't have to regurgitate boring facts. My audience were not dozing off.

Best of all. I was enjoying myself. At the end of my presentation, I got approving nods from my important guests, and rousing applause from my classmates.

Thank you Arsenal FC. You saved my ass.

To a fantastic 12 years at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger!