The coat check before the speech

Text: an original contemporary event-account-style practice extract.

The organiser did not begin by testing the microphone. She asked where people would put their wet coats. Rain had followed most of us into the hall, and chairs were already draped with sleeves. I had expected preparation to mean checking whether the important person could be heard. She began by checking whether the listeners could sit comfortably.

A volunteer brought an extra rail from a store cupboard. Another moved a chair away from the entrance so that arriving visitors did not have to squeeze past someone’s knees. These changes did not attract an announcement from the stage. When the speaker began, I noticed that nobody near me was balancing a damp coat on a lap or standing awkwardly in the doorway.

The microphone mattered too, and it worked. But the room’s readiness had included problems that would never appear in a photograph of the speaker. I cannot say that every listener noticed the care. I noticed what it allowed us to stop noticing. For an hour, we could give our attention to the person we had come to hear.

In this extract, the writer tries to create appreciation for considerate preparation.

Evaluate how successfully this is achieved. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.