Blog
Matthew Taylor
An old academic colleague of mine recalled when he was first asked to lecture. He was incredibly nervous and spent the whole summer rehearsing. Come the day and a lecture hall full of expectant students, he walked up to the lectern plonked down his notes and began. After ten minutes everything seemed to be going OK but it was then he started to notice a murmur of laughter in the room. As he went on the giggling became louder and louder. He was about to look up and berate the students when he realised why they were laughing. His tightly gripped hands weren’t just grasping his notes but he had from the beginning of his talk been holding the entire lectern six inches off the ground.