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Most people agree that
neither President George Bush nor his Democratic opponent John
Kerry are particularly eloquent speakers.
And that may
be just fine for most American voters.
At least
that’s the conclusion of Canadian writer Philip Marchand.
Marchand is a columnist for the Toronto Star newspaper and
author of a biography of Marshall McLuhan.
In a recent
column entitled “Baseball, apple pie and speaking like an
idiot: Lack of Eloquence a U.S. tradition,” Marchand argues
that poor public speaking may actually be preferred by US
voters.
In the
article, Marchand asks the question “Is there something in
American culture that is unusually tolerant of the
inarticulate man, even one possessing the highest office in
the land?”
Yes, the
writer claims.
Marchand
points to a traditional American suspicion of the overly
eloquent. In the book Huckleberry Finn, the most
reprehensible characters
were the exceptionally fluent Duke and Dauphin. Further, many
of America’s heroes tend to the strong silent, inarticulate
types including Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, and John Wayne.
At
Speechworks, we disagree with Mr. Marchand’s basic assumption
that the goal of public speaking is “eloquence.” Rather, we
feel that the key to great public speaking is about keeping the
message simple and connecting with the audience.
And that’s
what we teach in our programs. Keep it simple and deliver with
passion to ensure that your listeners understand how much you
care. Do those two things and you’ll succeed. No one
will question your eloquence. And maybe you'll get elected
president.
At
Speechworks we help our clients learn how to communicate in a
way that connects and persuades. If you’re interested in
becoming a great communicator give us a call at 404-266-0888
or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
