Michael - you're probably right. It WAS a good training ground 38 years ago, and I learned to reach out and grab a crowd's attention even if they weren't there specifically to hear me, because unlike today there WEREN'T cell-phones and I-pods and MP3 players and a dozen TV sets to contend with.

Without those distractions, I had a better than 50-50 chance of winning them over.

And people who had come to hear me were a bonus!

Seamus