{"id":1120,"date":"2011-09-25T09:02:51","date_gmt":"2011-09-25T08:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elementally.co.uk\/presentation-skills-blog\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2011-09-25T09:02:51","modified_gmt":"2011-09-25T08:02:51","slug":"presenting-mr-clegg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.awareplus.co.uk\/presentation-skills-blog\/presenting-mr-clegg\/","title":{"rendered":"Presenting Mr Clegg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Observations of a conference presentation \u00c2\u00a0:)<\/p>\n

Given that I do presentation skills training for a living, I know I should<\/strong> watch the conferences of our political parties with more enthusiasm and I know I should<\/strong> offer well thought out and carefully crafted critiques – but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a busy couple of weeks and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been tired and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re usually boring…<\/p>\n

So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to force myself… starting with Nick Clegg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s address to the LibDemm faithful in Birmingham.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to make a rounded critique here, partially because no one reads a rounded critique online and partially because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still too tired! :) \u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0(Hey, it’s been a big week!) What you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get is a set of isolated observations made as I sit on my sofa watching the speech on youtube<\/a>!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The opening round of applause<\/strong>. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get relaxed Mr Clegg – it was pretty obviously formulaic.\u00c2\u00a0 Take a look at how quickly it stopped when you thanked people for it: a genuinely warm and enthusiastic ovation wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been turned off like a tap. And if it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t genuine, might it even have been orchestrated?\u00c2\u00a0 If it was, fire your Stage Manager for orchestrating it badly!<\/li>\n
  2. Opening comments<\/strong> – boring and contrived. To make the list of things that have gone wrong anything other than padding, they needed to be delivered with passion.\u00c2\u00a0 This was too carefully delivered, too coached, too \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcnice\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to be anything other than \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcthe reason I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t comment on party conference speeches\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. It justifies my avoiding this kind of stuff… A waste of time, frankly.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless Clegg finds a way of redeeming it later… and this is the set-up for punch-line of some kind… this is the kind delivery you might get away with in the middle of a speech but not at the beginning…<\/li>\n
  3. 2:30 onwards \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That is the liberal spirit and that is something we will never loose<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Really?\u00c2\u00a0 You couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have said this with a bit more spirit?\u00c2\u00a0 Those are potentially powerful words, people-changing words, but delivered as though it was a shopping list. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Carrots, got them, chicken fillets, got them, liberal spirit, got it, frozen peas, got them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A bit of passion follows that – thank heavens… otherwise I was about to give up and make a cup of tea.<\/p>\n

    Just out of curiosity, Mr Clegg, why were you using a lectern?\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m beginning to get the impression that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be a lot better as a speechmaker if you were a little less \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcproper\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and went with your informal nature a little bit more.\u00c2\u00a0 The auto-cue is telling you what to say, so you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re obviously only using it as a prop – and like many presenters, the prop isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t what you need… raw courage is what you need!<\/p>\n

    Can you imagine the coverage you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have got if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d appeared out there as a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcnaked\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 presenter?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    No, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do it any more…. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m bored!<\/p>\n

    But then again I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not… because by about seven minutes in he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d warmed up. Clegg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice had variety – because he had begun to dare to let it go a little.\u00c2\u00a0 What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more, he had a good theme going \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not the easy thing, but the right thing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – there were Clap Traps a plenty (thanks to his script-writers) and he managed to use some of them – thanks to the fact that his audience were desperate\/programmed to respond to them.<\/p>\n

    (What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Clap Trap? A flair and cadance the finishes with a strong down at the end of a paragraph, encouraging applause from the audience. Look at 8:40 to 9:08 – and one he almost<\/strong> missed just before 10:00).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fault Clegg\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guts, either, as he tackles the unpopular topic of student loans around the 12 minute mark…..<\/p>\n

    …. but…<\/p>\n

    ….but….<\/p>\n

    …..but it’s a well crafted, nicely delivered piece of political safety-work. And I’ll bet if I’d written this (so-called) review of any of the other parties I’d be saying more or less the same things<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    It’s good, but it’s not special. \u00c2\u00a0Good but not great. Safe but not life-changing.<\/p>\n

    And isn’t that the problem with political presentations? \u00c2\u00a0For fear of screwing up, nothing exciting happens. For fear of appearing in a gaff-slot on YouTube nothing can be left to chance. \u00c2\u00a0For fear of hitting the news headlines for the wrong reasons, nothing is included that could hit the headlines for the right<\/strong> reasons.<\/p>\n

    But do you know what? I’d be happy, really, really happy if there was just a bit more honesty and reality in political speeches.<\/p>\n

    Tell me, please tell me, that I’m not the only one….!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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