That is another good reason — she wanted to be able to see and react to the crowd.
It actually is much easier to speak to a crowd if you can look them in the eyes. If the stage lights are bright and aimed at the stage where you are, it seems that all you are doing is talking to bright lights. In my case those lights were very bright. I actually just said the gun bit as a joke, but was surprised to see a few people in the front row pull their jackets back. Needless to say I put a lot of effort into that presentation.