This morning the city of Weehawken, NJ held a reenactment of the duel between Hamilton and Burr on July 11th, 1804. Typical of events of this nature, every politician with an excuse crawled out of their holes to add their comments... turning an interesting historical reenactment into an overly long drone. Oops, I'm digressing again. :-)
Everytime I watch or listen to programs with politicians at the microphone, I am struck by the almost universal utter lack of public speaking skills. What is it with these people? We hear references to the great oratorical skills of men whose names have rung down through the ages. That sure isn't something that has held true of their successors thru the years.
I was trying to come up with an excuse for the men I heard speaking today... is it because they have been trained as lawyers (as are most policitians)? Not necessarily; strong oratory skills are an important tool of an attorney, at least one who expects to appear in court at some point in his/her career and hopes to have any chance of winning. Is it a gender-based problem? Again, no. I've heard women in political positions speak just as woodenly. [Hilary Clinton springs immediately to mind, along with Elizabeth Dole.]
I've come to the conclusion that it is a) a lack of education, and b) disregard and/or lack of respect for the listener.
It's darn near impossible to concentrate on the words being spoken and the message contained therein when the speaker uses a monotone and pauses every 4 or 5 words, whether appropriate or not. Not to mention the lack of eye contact with the audience.
The worst speakers are reading their material. It's so obvious that they didn't write it -- they aren't even remotely familiar with it. I'm not against having speech writers, but for crying out loud can't you at least read the material thru until you are familiar with it? Maybe a better expenditure of public funds would be to hire someone to help these politicians do a better job of the presentation.
Here's my critique of the speakers at this event:
Mayor Richard Turner, Weehawken NJ
Didn't read have notes, so obviously wrote his own material and was familiar with the contents. Good cadence and tone; good body language, obviously comfortable.
Governor McGreevey, NJ
Someone help this man. I couldn't even begin to tell you what he said. It was so disrupting to watch him look up and down, every 4 or 5 words, with the accompanying pause while he read the next 4 or 5 words. So apparent that there was no reading for comprehension. How in the hell did he get elected? Oh... I get it. Politicians with poor public speaking abilities get elected because no one is actually listening to them or their message.
Congressman Menendez
Somewhat better; he had no notes. So at least he memorized the material written for him. Still needs work on his breathing and pitch.
Patrick Boll (Narrator)
Unknown what his connection to this event was; nothing was mentioned. Obviously nervous. Never looked up, stumbled regularly over words. Poor breathing in the begining, tho he relaxed as the event progressed. Poor pitch and cadence, poor emphasis on words and little variation in pitch. Ended every sentence on a lower note, obviously poor breath control.
Nancy Giles (Narrator)
Again, nothing was said about her role in this event other than being a narrator. This woman has had training in public speaking. While she was also reading her material, the cadence and pitch of her performance changed with the material and as appropriate. It was a pleasure to listen to her.
Overall Score: Mayor Turner and Nancy Giles were obviously the better speakers; Patrick Boll was too nervous and probably should have bowed out to someone with more experience. Menendez at least was less stilted than McGreevey. McGreevey should have claimed he had laryngitis and bowed out.
Bet you never thought you'd read a rant on this topic here, did you? I've had 8+ years of formal training in oratory & public speaking and 20 yrs of practice. If I displayed the lack of skills I see in politicians I'd have a hard time promoting my business -- public speaking is an important tool for a consultant.
Posted by becky at July 11, 2004 10:46 AM |