26th Jun2011

Analysis Of Ed Miliband’s First Speech As Party Leader

by Rich

A perfect use of the old ‘rule of three’ in a political speech by Ed Miliband last year.

The rule of three involves the repetition of a key word, phrase or point, or sometimes even the use of three words beginning with the same letter or sound during a speech.

Doing this helps to emphasise key points, increase impact and make your speech more memorable. Ultimately you want your audience to remember your key points and if your points are made easier to remember by implementing the rule of three, its more likely your audience will recall your message and spread the word!

Check out from 0:52 when Ed Miliband talks about the new generation of Labour being different: ‘Different attitudes, different ideas, different ways of doing politics.’

Then also take a look at 2:50 onwards – ‘Optimistic about our country, optimistic about our World, optimistic about the power of politics’. At this point the rule of three helps Ed Miliband to make a strong conclusion to his speech and leave a key message in the minds of his audience. Top stuff.

What’s not so great about this speech?

Ed Miliband is hidden behind a lectern – its hard for him to convey huge amounts of emotion or passion from this position using his body. Instead, he has to settle with bending forward slightly as he becomes more passionate, which ends up just looking a little odd and off-putting for the audience!

Ed’s hand is also a little all over the place. The free hand is traditionally used by British politicians to emphasise key points – Tony Blair was a master at this. In Ed Miliband’s speech his hand is used at some very random times – at points when he doesn’t need it to emphasise or back-up his words. For example on the word ‘be’ near the beginning of the speech. As the speech goes on the hand movements improve and are incorporated well into the ‘optimistic’ conclusion mentioned earlier.

Anything else?

Take a look at 0:30 in to the video and see how Ed states ‘some people think I might be more left wing than him’. Which way does Ed step after this? To his right! Coincidence, subliminal messaging, unconscious reaction? You decide.

Category : Featured, Speech analysis, Uncategorized
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07th Jun2011

Being an expert is not enough

by Rich

In this Internet age it’s easier to be an expert.

There’s more information, it’s more accessible and there are more niches to become expert in.

I’ve seen a lot of ‘experts’ speak recently and there is o doubting their knowledge.

But what really sets those experts apart from the rest is an ability to communicate in a more engaging way – whether via Twitter, email, phone or as a conference speaker.

An expert that is a great communicator lives longer in the memory than one who passed on their messages badly.

Category : Public speaking riffs, Uncategorized
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01st Jun2011

Hardest Public Speaking Part 2 – The Doctor’s Speech

by Rich

We’ve all either experienced it or seen a rather over-dramatised version of it in a television programme – the doctor delivering bad news to the relatives of a patient.

You might not immediately think that this is public speaking. However, it’s a single person communicating a message to an audience of normally more than one using many of the techniques that are taught as part of the majority of public speaking courses.

Before we look at the techniques that a doctor uses to deliver bad news in the best possible way. We have to first understand the audience.

The audience for the doctor’s speech is likely to have a high emotional involvement in the situation, be experiencing volatile emotions and be extremely tired. The ultimate reaction to the doctor’s speech is likely to range from anger to disbelief to fear or something completely different – we all react to bad news in different ways.

The doctor’s speech objective is therefore to deliver this information in the most straight-forward and emotionally sensitive way to minimise the chances of the audience reaction being extremely negative or even destructive.

How does the doctor do this?

Tone of voice – the doctor’s tone of voice is likely to be sympathetic yet as matter-of-fact as possible. They need to appear sensitive to the audience’s feelings, yet still position themselves as the expert in the room to avoid the audience losing faith in their medical abilities.

Use of language – a tired and emotional audience is likely to become frustrated if the doctor explains the situation in medical gobbledegook. They will not understand the message and may become confused – not something that is desired at this most critical of times. The doctor needs to use language well to translate a medical situation in to easy to understand terms.

Openness to audience participation – it’s likely that the audience will have many questions bout the medical situation – the reasons, the outcomes and the patient’s prospects. The doctor needs to ensure that they give the audience ample opportunity to ask questions and that they are answered in a positive, constructive and comprehensible way. The doctor also needs to ensure that the audience isn’t too intimidated to ask questions and so should appear approachable. This can be achieved through positive tone of voice, facial expressions and gestures.

In conclusion, the doctor’s speech is a short speech, but an important one. It’s likely that the audience will remember this speech for the rest of their lives and that its message being communicated clearly will have an effect on their emotions.

Clear, positive communication is key here, even at the end of a 12 hour shift – not always easy, I’m sure!

Category : Speech analysis
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