I’ve just watched Theresa May’s recent conference speech – the one sponsored by Strepsils! Media headlines with words such as ‘disastrous’ and ‘car crash’, led me to expect a halloween horror story. Instead, I found much to admire. I thought the apology for the election (in which she acknowledged that the campaign had been “too scripted, too presidential”) showed humanity and vulnerability. I applaud the two amusing ad libs in response to the P45 prankster and the Chancellor handing her a lozenge. Unscripted humour in a high pressure situation is extremely hard to pull off and she did so with great confidence and poise. If you want to hear what a car crash really sounds like, listen to this Natalie Bennett interview – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCH7WgxT2yI
Talking of scripting and presidential, have you heard the one about the US President who can’t read autocue? Look out in particular for the ‘furniture/future’ gaffe at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJhBwbwSRBM
And, finally, a master class in how to use words brilliantly. Michael Kimmel is both conversational and authoritative, approachable and expert, funny and impactful.
So, in this age of the tweet, the sound bite and the emoji, when communication is becoming something of a blunt instrument, let’s be careful to select our words carefully and make our own judgements on those chosen by others.