What you see when one over prepares
Laurens Heinen
Independent Trainer – Soft skills – Productivity & Priority – Future of Work – Politics & Democracy
Is there ever a more challenging time challenging or nerve wrecking speech to give than your first speech in front of the cameras of the world as a country's prime minister? I guess not.
What you see happen when you watch it, is someone being, in my humble opinion, over prepared. He does many things right in his public speaking here - he makes eye contact, he articulates well, he uses a limited amount of words per minute (making it easy to understand/follow).
But there is something about this appearance that makes it slightly artificial. The emphasis is on almost every word, it's like he has practiced to make every other word in the sentence a centerpiece of attention and care. There is very little variance in tempo and tone. There is some variance in tone within the sentences, but not in between the sentences. So it all comes across a bit overprepared.
The main problem is that he has been to afraid to show himself in this speech. There is very little him. In some of the interviews he has given (and that have shown up and been referred to recently, given his candidacy) he seems a bit nerdy. There is unfortunately none of that here. It lacks personality.
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So we can only hope that, as he eases a bit into his new job (and for the stability of his country, let's hope he sticks around longer than his predecessor), he gains a bit of confidence and is willing to let go part of his preparation and show who he is.
What can we learn from this as mere mortals? No matter how high the stakes of your speech, always be willing to show a bit of yourself in your speaking, and dare to diverge a tiny bit from your preparation. In the end, people want to listen to a person, not a public speaking robot who executes to (apparent) perfection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1O6IRfx6a4
Founder. Artistic Director. Human.
2 年Oh my days, yes! Completely over-prepared. I'm sure I heard one commentator saying that he had the same coach as Truss...
Independent Trainer – Soft skills – Productivity & Priority – Future of Work – Politics & Democracy
2 年Compare (even though the setting in which the speaking takes place is different) with his first minute and half at the first PMQs - at the latter occasion he comes across as way more natural. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx9wLvJhoUI
Campaign and Policy Officer at ALDA?? EUinsider.EU's "Educator to Follow in 2024"
2 年Interesting analysis. Yet, I don't believe there is such a thing as "over-preparedness". The default in elocution, as you mentioned (putting emphasis on every word), is rather an issue of being sure that every bit of the speech can be shared on social media for greater effect. In fact, I'd argue that Sunak was under-prepared (he probably could not find the time to dedicate more than a couple of hours to this speech). That's why he does not let his personality shine, nor—and that's a big loss—he did not take the opportunity for an epidictic moment, giving reasons for the British people to unite.
DEI Consulting | Speaker | LinkedIn Top Voice 2024 |
2 年This is what it feels like to be under a magnifying glass, being the first in many ways. The youngest, the first PM of colour, the first Hindu PM. Whose language can you speak, that of your own or what the audience wants to hear? Now this is a high profile job and we might have high expectations - but it doesn’t make it easier being aware how people perceive you.
Independent Trainer – Soft skills – Productivity & Priority – Future of Work – Politics & Democracy
2 年Here's a link to the (7min) statement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1O6IRfx6a4