Page 6 - Voices! - october 2015

VIEWPOINT

Back of the Room

By Michelle Alba Lim, DTM – District Director

intimidating strangers. 1976. University of San Carlos. Cebu City, Philippines. First day of teaching. To a nervous
22-year-old, a roomful of impatient students felt as terrifying as a lynch mob. Fearful
that my quivering knees might buckle under if I stood up front, I joined a group of
students at the back of the room. To break the ice, I asked “Why Psychology 101 as
your first class of the day?” I got an interesting mix of responses. Becca muttered,
“Might as well start with my most dreaded class.” Sammy said he didn’t have a
choice because academic scholars were block-enrolled.“I’ve got a crush on someone
here,” Chona sheepishly admitted. This drew chuckles. Conversation became more
animated as other students chimed in. When the buzzer sounded for me to start the
class, I was speaking to newfound friends at the back of the room – not a room of

2009, Toastmasters International Convention, Mashantucket, Connecticut. Concurrent speaker. When WHQ asked me to
submit a speaking proposal back in 2009, I chose Moments of Truth because it was not as widely known as it should be,
much less used. I’d planned to give an overview of Moments of Truth, then talk about various strategies to make it work. I
had a great title, “Going from Good to Great: Harnessing the Power of Moments of Truth.” Unfortunately, weeks before the
convention, WHQ released new, downloadable, materials regarding Moments of Truth. On the day of my talk, I had no idea
how many in the audience had already seen the new materials. Guess where I went before stage time? You guessed it -
back of the room! There I quizzed people on what they knew about Moments of Truth, how many of them used it regularly,
and what were their strategies for success. Once onstage, it was easy for me to say “Alfred over there conducts Moments of
Truth once a year” and “Victoria over here always carries a Moments of Truth manual, just in case it’s needed at short notice.

All other factors constant and given the choice, I definitely prefer the back of the room to the front. When audience reaction
is a factor, back of the room gives me a better “overview” of how well the speaker’s message is being received. I can see
when the audience is riveted towards the speaker’s every word (or not). On the practical side, it’s where the coffee usually
is. More importantly, sitting (or standing) at the back of the room gives me an opportunity to interact with people with
whom I might not have interacted.

I am not alone in my preference for the back of the room. In his cover story in National Geographic (August 2015), Robert
Draper wrote, “From the stage, a pastor calls for the city’s archbishop to come up and say a few words. The audience reacts with
surprise, because the man striding to the front had been sitting in the back all this time, for hours, like no one of any importance.”
Draper was writing about Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the relatively unknown Argentinian who is now known throughout the
world as Pope Francis.

The late Dr. Stephen Covey was another person who enjoyed the back of the room. When he visited the Philippines in 1994,
he chose to sit at the back of room. Lucky me, since I got to chat with him for a few minutes. Before Dr. Covey passed away,
he was one of my Facebook friends. Many of the people I’ve met at the back of the room over the years are my friends to
this day.

If you see me at the back of the room at our next Toastmasters event, come and say “Hello!”It could be the start of a lifelong
friendship, or an opportunity to deepen our current friendship. Email me at dd@d7toastmasters.org to let me know what
you think. It will be our virtual “back of the room” conversation.

6 Volume 2 Issue 4 - OCT 2015