- August 31, 2012
- Posted by: EMS Communications
- Category: Communication
Wow…what a week of speeches! The speakers at the RNC Convention covered the entire spectrum–from nervous to confident, from engaging to lifeless, from telling it to SELLING IT!
How did EMS rate some of the big names? Let’s take a look:
Condoleezza Rice (http://tinyurl.com/9u9kuwn):
As expected, Ms. Rice delivered her speech with a composed,calm and poised style. She is clearly intelligent and comfortable with her message, evidenced by the fact that she used only notes and not a Teleprompter (FINALLY!) Her energy was steady throughout, but we’d advise her to crank it up and smile more.
Paul Ryan (http://tinyurl.com/9qeg6tl):
For most Americans this was our first real introduction to this energetic speaker. He pauses very effectively, emphasizes points with impressive vocal variety and punch, and uses facial expression to his advantage. We were distracted by his nervous-sounding cough during pauses (speakers–don’t forget that it’s OK to take a drink) and his pointing, which we’ve written about. He was on the attack Wednesday night–playing his role so Romney could take the higher road. The highlight was his call to action at the end, something that is often left out for fear of being too “pushy”.
Clint Eastwood (http://tinyurl.com/95sszan):
We at EMS encourage speakers to be authentic, which Clint sure was, but did it work here? That’s up to personal opinion. He’s at the age where most of us are able to say “well that’s just Clint.” Some people shouldn’t use notes, and others should. ‘Nuff said.
Marco Rubio (http://tinyurl.com/8wpjdz6):
Senator Rubio was was poised and conversational, sharing some personal stories to make his point. We’d encourage him to relax his facial expression to get rid of his scowl. As we often tell our clients, you don’t have to always look serious for people to take you seriously. Doing this will also increase his vocal variety, which needs to hit more peaks and valleys.
Mitt Romney:
First impression–Barack Obama looks much more comfortable working a crowd than Gov. Romney did walking down the aisle Thursday night. (He needs to learn Obama’s cool handshake!) As a speaker, he is certainly the most effective Republican candidate since Reagan. He was sincere, composed and comfortable at the podium. He very obviously wore his emotions on his sleeve, and it’s up to each of us to decide how that came across. We’d coach him to bring more fire to his delivery by increasing his vocal variety, using more facial expression and adding more gestures. He has to be MORE enthusiastic when appropriate, and crank up the conviction when it’s time to get serious. He finally got there at the end, but needs to begin that way too.
Next up…the Democrats. Stay tuned for our analysis.
