And Then, We Step Back In There was a time when standing on a stage frightened me. The lights, the audience, the microphone in my hand, the awareness that every word I spoke was being heard and watched. I would rehearse, prepare and rehearse some more, hoping that preparation could protect me from the unexpected. Years later, the stage has become almost ordinary. Teaching has taken me there countless times. Hosting school events has become a part of my professional life. I have been trusted by my school to anchor and conduct programmes, and somewhere along the way, the fear disappeared. I learnt to speak, think on my feet, manage transitions, deal with the unexpected and, most importantly, stay composed. Or so I thought. Today, something happened. It was a small moment. A moment that probably lasted no more than a few seconds. But when you are the person standing on the stage, a few seconds can feel strangely long. Something in the flow of the programme changed. My co-hos...