While Doug can talk for days without stopping to take a breath, I am a very nervous public speaker. A group of people staring at me makes it hard to focus on the topic at hand when my mind is asking stupid questions like “Is there a sesame seed in my teeth?” I also have a tendency to skip the required examples that prove my point and just state what I believe as if it were carved in stone. Which, of course, it isn’t. So, when I was asked to speak at a NAMI meeting last week, I pulled together props. Nothing that would make the audience ooh and ahh. Just things that I hold in my hand to help me remember what I NEED to say instead of just what I want them to remember. I may think that a half a dozen sentences are all that’s important, but they mean nothing without a little bit of explanation WHY they are thoughts worth remembering.  Without my words, they’re just a pile of toys.  What?  You don’t understand why I chose toys?  Well, I need stuff to play with after I’m done speaking.