They sure knew how to make a man nervous.
Everything was so much bigger than he anticipated, everyone was focused on him. It made him lightheaded to think about it. "Is this... is this what I should do? I'm a terrible public speaker." he begged Eric once he realized the scope of things to come. He would have to review his diary and double check remembering his story in case there was a variation in theme. Mabell is gone, he built something, there were strangers, the people were spiders, wait, no, the people were 'wrong', he suspected they were spiders. And they had dogs? What was chasing him now? Oh god...
"I'm gonna need a drink." he muttered. He'll have to do this. When introduced he'll stand, coughing nervously and adjusting his shirt.
"H-hello gentlemen. Uh, thank you for making time for me, you must all be very busy with your spider problem I've been told about."
He glanced over the crowd. Out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw something off about this. Maybe it was just panic setting in but what if not all of them were human? He didn't even think about that, if he told everything then they'd know, and who knows what they'd do. But he needs to tell them, even though he was chased out Mabell was his home. It was that damned pastor's fault. Wait, it was the pastor's fault? He doesn't really recall.
It occurred to him he had been standing there silent and awkward there for a moment. "Please excuse me, I'm not really... good at this. Like Mr. Bryan said, I had been lost at sea. I was fleeing from my hometown of Mabell in Maine, a town which I haven't seen any reference to yet. I checked the local maps here before I came and it is the same as always, no indication of it existing. My town had fallen victim to something fell and supernatural, something I can't quite explain and dare not recall. I no longer trust my pastor there, I remember he was important in what happened. Unfortunately the events which led up to it have been distorted, but I suppose the results are more important. My town is gone and there was something wrong with its people."
He proceeded to tell his tale, though much more uncertain of himself and nervous. He seemed to skip over the part of the strangers, focusing instead on the populace no longer acting normal and how they turned upon him. They had beset a beast of some uncertain appearance, and that his journey, a journey which seemed to be at least a month long, was met with unnatural weather and fog. More importantly was his encounters with others who claimed not to know where he came from and offered no sanctuary. Eventually he was driven to the shore by his pursuers and left on raft. He thought himself safe, but he was no sailor and soon he was adrift in the waves.
"I had kept a dairy of events before the boat trip. I would have presumed it an elaborate fever dream, but I had on me the book, and a gun. I do not even know where I received the gun but I know I am a peaceful man, I had no reason to own one. I think I may have taken it from someone to protect myself against my pursuers. Even though my town seems to have been taken over by whatever IT is, I still desire to go back to find out what happened and who else escaped or survived or remains normal. And the problem is so much bigger than me now, the whole country is in danger from the strange and aberrant. Right now I suspect the spiders you seek are involved with Mabell somehow, but I can't know until I find it. I'll help you find it. Please... tell me that the information I bare is potent, tell me that it helps!"