Tom wore his best tie that day. The one his wife had given him for his 37th birthday. It was a blue Mickey Mouse tie. Totally childish and silly. But he didn’t give a hoot how he looked in it. All he knew was that he was feeling a bit nervous and he needed to wear it. You’d think that years of speaking at computer seminars would have nipped it in the bud. But, no.

Yes, he was brilliant and eloquent and good-looking to boot (or so his lovely wife had told him). But today, he needed his wife’s touch around – and the next best thing to having her around …was that tie.

His daughter had sat on his lap that morning and tied it for him – which made it extra special.

For some reason, whenever he donned that ridiculous tie, it made him feel more confident, straightened his back a bit better, raised his chest to Superman proportions. Ok, maybe not exactly Superman, but you get the gist, right?

It was his very own good luck charm.

He had met his wife in business school. He was studying an MBA. She was studying Accountancy. How they managed to pass their degrees was beyond them as they seemed to spend every waking hour together.

That was 10 years ago. And three beautiful daughters later, they were still as loved up as they’d ever been (give or take a sprinkling of hot arguments).

His family were his strength. His purpose in life. And with that in mind, he walked onto the podium. He couldn’t see the audience because of the lights but he could feel it was packed. Years of seminar experience had taught him that.

The company had pulled out all the stops this time; the seminar was in the rather plush conference hall of Hotel Allgäu. He almost felt like he was in a concert – and he was a guitar-strapped long-haired rock n roll god performing to all his adoring fans. And in a minute, roses and underwear would start flying towards him.

He was very impressed with the space. The microphone wasn’t really necessary because the acoustics in there were quite good. But he figured it would look unprofessional if he stepped away from the podium to present the seminar.

The space reminded him of the hall in Hotel Oberstdorf the company hired a couple of years ago. Similar shape and lighting. He wasn’t sure which one he preferred.

Anyway, on with the presentation.

With a quick brush of his Disney tie, Tom took a deep breath and delivered his opening line.