Lessons in Moderation

This month, I was able to meet up with my fellow fellows in Semarang, a city in the center of my island, for Indonesia's International English conference: TEFLIN.

Each of the fellows is asked to present an hour-long workshop on some successful strategies we've used in the classroom. This year, I had the added bonus of getting to moderate for one of the key-note speakers. This means introducing the speaker and topic, opening the floor up for questions, and then wrapping up the session with a nice little summary. 

I was quite proud of my performance behind the microphone...that is until I opened up the floor for questions. We only had time for one question; should have been a cake-walk.






"Yes, you, sir."
"Yes, thank you for the time. My name is (names removed for the protection of the innocent and because I can't remember them). My question has three parts...."
Oh no.

"First, why do you think blah blah blah....."
You talk, I'll just be here writing up my wrap up summary. 
"Second, blah blah blah...something totally irrelevant...blah blah blah...."
Glance at clock.
"And third, blah blah...aren't you impressed with how much I can say without saying anything at all...blah..."
Finally. He's finished. Silence. The keynote speaker looked at me with furled eyebrows.
"What was the first part?" he mouthed.
Damn. What do I do now? I clearly failed my first attempt at moderating. I was supposed to be taking detailed notes on the question. I don't have a freakin' clue what the first question was. I turned to the man and grasped the mic to do the only thing that could be done at that point.
"What was the first part?"
The audience erupted into laughter. At least I had their sympathies. After another five minute explanation in which the man asked essentially why the Indonesian English educational system was broken, the key note was able to grasp on to something and save the day. I sputtered out a one-liner closing statement, shook the speaker's hand, and jetted for a seat in the back of the auditorium. That went well.

Looking back on it, my first experience as a moderator wasn't that bad. I've lived through far more embarrassing experiences...involving rollerskates....but we'll save that story for never. Live and learn, right? Luckily, my spirits were lifted by some pretty spectacular cultural performances later that evening. I got to meet these young and talented dancers and eat some pretty delicious local food.