In 1995 I performed Chekhov’s short story “The Good German” for my class of Stage Speech taught by amazing speech professor Tatyana Ivanovna Yarosh. I was selected to represent the Russian Academy of Dramatic Arts, at the Competition of Young Story-Tellers in St. Petersburg. I was honored to be selected, but I thought, I would have no chance with my foreign accent, among hundreds of native Russian speakers. I got on a stage in this pre-revolutionary palace, blinded by lights. I could hear the audience whispering, so I knew that I need to get their full attention from the get-go. So, I stood in the middle of an empty stage thinking ‘Let me tell you a story' while looking at different corners of the auditorium. Suddenly nobody whispered anymore. You could hear a needle dropping on the floor. Well, I dropped that needle by starting the story: “Ivan Karlovich Shvey...” The audience reacted after I said the first three words. That gave me more courage, self-confidence and desire to tell them the full story of Ivan. As a storyteller I found this story extremely dramatic, and the more seriously I was telling it, the more the audience found it funny. I got a standing ovation at the end. Unfortunately, because I was a foreigner and hotel rooms for foreigners were much more expensive than for Russians, the Academy wouldn't pay for my room. I needed to return on the next train back to Moscow. The next day my professors announced, I took third place with my performance. I was told, my initial pause and keeping my ‘suggested circumstances' strong throughout all the pauses made me win the hearts of the jury and the audience.