He was late arriving and slow getting past the hand-shakers and back-slappers, but President Obama\u2019s State of the Union Address was a new slant on an old trope, at times uplifting (\u201cwe do big things\u201d) and at other times evasive (like, what about the debt?)<\/p>\n

I found\u00a0his speech\u00a0to be long and inelegantly structured.\u00a0 While I was waiting for him to follow the rule of three in presentation skills training <\/a>(innovation, education, and infrastructure), he continued after the third element to discuss the tax system, health care, the debt, streamlining government, and foreign policy (which was at the tail end.)<\/p>\n

Plus, he spent time extolling the value of math, science, technology and engineering, but never once sang the praises of a liberal arts education, which happens to be the type of education he had, and is the education that enabled him to become a senator, a President, and a powerful public speaker.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, despite these warts, the speech helped to momentarily lift us above our partisan gripes to gaze into a possible future.\u00a0 Yes, it lacked detail and specific \u201chow-tos\u201d about some very big objectives, but details and how-tos do not make for great speeches.\u00a0 What the President had, in addition to big ideas, was style<\/em>, which in a speech can be even more important than detail.<\/p>\n

In fact, style has substance.\u00a0 Long after we\u2019ve forgotten the details of a speech, we remember what the speaker looked like and sounded like, and how he made us feel.\u00a0 And feelings drive actions.\u00a0 Ideas only make us think.<\/p>\n

Emerson said, \u201cWhat you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying.\u201d Or more importantly, if what you are embodies the substance of your message, then you\u2019re sending the message both emotionally and intellectually.\u00a0 The President\u2019s message was, \u201cGet over the blame game, and get optimistic,\u201d and his style embodied that message, and that is powerful leadership.<\/p>\n

My favorite moment was when he referred to the two men sitting behind him.\u00a0 He pointed out that Vice President Biden came from a blue collar family in that hard-scrabble town, Scranton, PA.\u00a0 And then he described Speaker Boehner as a boy sweeping the floor in his father\u2019s bar.\u00a0 Both men looked pleased and slightly embarrassed that they were portrayed as poster boys for the American dream.<\/p>\n

But the most powerful thing he said was what he didn\u2019t say.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t refer to his own life story, which enhanced my perception, not only of his character, but of his political savvy.\u00a0 Humility is a very attractive personal trait\u2014even if it\u2019s faked\u2014and giving other guys credit for their remarkable achievements is a wise move.<\/p>\n

The other thing he left out was a defense of TARP, even though he is attacked for it and even though it is widely believed to have forestalled a second Great Depression. He also did not engage in bashing the wealthy, except for a brief mention of his desire to end the tax cuts for the top 2% of earners.\u00a0 Both these omissions were significant olive branches to the Republicans: two gestures that said, \u201cLet\u2019s move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Style also includes delivery, and as a speech coach <\/a>who runs presentation courses <\/a>and public speaking courses<\/a>, I can say that the President is a master of delivery.\u00a0 Listen to his pauses.\u00a0 He uses silence like a great designer uses white space.\u00a0 He is skilled at reading from the TelePrompter, and knows when to go fast, slow down, or let silence hang in the air.<\/p>\n

His voice also has a wide repertoire of pitch patterns, volumes, speeds, and resonances. He varies the pitch of his voice, gets loud or soft as the text requires, and can speak with both a chest voice and a head voice.\u00a0 Most people who train for careers in the theater take voice and speech class, where they learn how to develop the power and flexibility of their voices, and how to be precise and accurate with their speech.\u00a0 As far as I know, the President never went to acting school, but he has a voice that many stage actors would covet.<\/p>\n

A great Shakespearean actor (I forget who, but he was a 19^{th<\/sup> century guy, who went on stage without any microphones) said in answer to the question, \u201cWhat does it take to be a great actor?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cVoice, voice and more voice.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The President fits that bill.<\/p>\n}

All these are merely the visible and audible signs of his character.\u00a0 The guy is incredibly healthy\u2014physically, mentally, and emotionally.\u00a0 He has what may be the hardest job in the world, but he seems buoyant.\u00a0 Like FDR, his character inspires optimism.\u00a0 I know at least half the country doesn\u2019t like him or his policies, but I am a big fan of optimism, and he laid it out there for all of us to feed on.<\/p>\n

I hope we do.<\/p>\n

\n<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He was late arriving and slow getting past the hand-shakers and back-slappers, but President Obama\u2019s State of the Union Address was a new slant on an old trope, at times uplifting (\u201cwe do big things\u201d) and at other times evasive (like, what about the debt?) I found\u00a0his speech\u00a0to be long and inelegantly structured.\u00a0 While I… Read More »The State of the Union: Style has substance in public speaking<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[144,336],"tags":[603,291,117,906],"yoast_head":"\n