When you get to the podium, it's hard to even see the audience. The spotlight is on you, and there are only candles at all of the tables. You can't make out individual faces at all. So much for making eye contact.
But you lift your chin and introduce yourself. And now the tricky bit:
"Some of you may know that Kenneth Graves was supposed to be here this evening to introduce Ms. Falter. I know that he was looking forward to doing so, and that he had some thoughts of his own about clean water infrastructure to share. As someone who had been working to improve the lot of developing nations for more decades than most of us have been alive, he had a truly encyclopedic knowledge of the topic.
"So I am very sorry to have to tell you that Mr. Graves passed away this afternoon in his hotel room."
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