Continued from previous post
To become a better speaker, I spent the rest of Wednesday pitching Comrade Quest to as many friends, classmates, and willing strangers as I could. Most of the people who I pitched the game to really liked the idea, but it was criticism from a 3D modeling friend that really helped me out. While he understood the idea of the game, he emphasized the importance of selling the game’s humor. He stated that the use of humor would better showcase the game’s zany tone, rather than a stiff, straight-faced presentation.
I agreed with him- games that were humorous in tone had a better chance at getting into GPL. The semester before, three of the five games that made it into GPL had a good sense of humor- Body Shop, The Fast and the Fjorious, and Control Room. Taking his advice, I revised my pitch to match the humor featured in the game.
By the end of the day I felt better about my public speaking skills, but I still felt that I wasn’t where I needed to be. If there was anything that my college experience taught me, it was that in order to succeed, you had to get outside your comfort zone. I could pitch Comrade Quest, but to be successful I had to sell it. To push the idea, I spent the night preparing flyers for people to see me pitch Comrade Quest for GPL at the live pitches.
Creating the flyers was a mental exercise in two parts- getting to the right mental frequency and preparing to speak in front of a large audience. After class on Thursday, I went around campus passing out the flyers and pitching Comrade Quest. Most people who I approached were very genial and interested in Comrade Quest. Of all the people I pitched and handed out flyers to, only two were uninterested.
Finally, Friday arrived. The pitches started at 6:00 that evening in the Clark Center. Despite Friday being the day of pitches, I wasn’t nervous. Unlike the hectic four days before, I went about my day peacefully, even serenely. I woke up, ate breakfast, checked my emails, and worked in the ATEC labs for a little while, before going back to my apartment to get dressed up for pitches.
I got to the Clark Center thirty minutes early, to get comfortable with room designated for the live pitches. The room itself was a mid-sized auditorium, with seating for about 200 to 300 people. After about twenty minutes elapsed, the GPL professors and fellow game lab presenters filtered in. Panel members, followed by spectators filled the room. Presenters for Game Lab were ordered to sit in the front row together, in the order that they were assigned to present. I would be the eighth to present.
Dr. Evans, the head professor of GPL, kicked off the live pitches with the standard Game Lab introduction. As she was explaining GPL and the purpose of the live pitches to the audience, I started getting anxious. I ran the Comrade Quest pitch through my head furiously, making sure I remembered each point. I also ran through all the questions that the panel might ask about Comrade Quest, and formulated answers.
When the first pitch began, I found myself dividing my mental processes between paying attention to the pitches at hand and trying to tame my nervousness. A horrible quivering sensation manifested in the back of my throat, no doubt from the anxiety. My composure was quickly slipping. I knew that if I didn’t start actively filtering my thoughts, I would end up on stage a blubbering mess. I concentrated hard on the pitches my colleagues presented, shifting my mental allowance between concentration and worry from 50-50 to 75-25.
The shift worked a little, but it also sped up my perception of time. The pitches flew by one after another, until the seventh pitch ended, then Comrade Quest was announced. Suddenly, the nervousness subsided. As I rose out of my seat the music began to play in my head, The Hymn to the Red October.
Tiy pliyvee, pliyvee bestrashna, gordest say viernykh marieye.
Revoluytziye nadezhdah sgoostk vierif sekh luydeye.
Conclusion in next post!
post commandeered by the US Claire Force
C.E. LEWOCZKO 