Remote media training using Zoom is proving remarkably effective
As we adapt to this brave new world that has been…
By Robert Taylor on the March 31st, 2020
I’m lucky enough to have media trained people from every corner of the world – from Japan to Jamaica and Malawi to Mexico.
I find good performers in the most unlikely places, but there is one part of the world that almost guarantees to produce great public speakers: the US and Canada.
I’ve ceased to be surprised by the ability of ordinary business folk or public servants from that part of the world to display such great oratorical skills.
It’s not just one or two who are good; they nearly all are, with rich vocal variety, perfect pace and impressive body language.
By comparison, we Brits can be pretty poor.
I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s something to do with our thinner articulation and tendency to mutter and gabble. Oh, and we appear to lack confidence and therefore fail to speak with passion and authority.
Even our best speakers, like Tony Blair and David Cameron, are completely overshadowed by Clinton or Obama.
As for the business world, Richard Branson oozes charisma, but is hardly a great speaker, while you’ll be hard pressed to find a better presenter that the late Steve Jobs – an American, of course.
Great communicators have such an advantage in life in terms of job prospects, pay and even the number of friends they can call on.
Isn’t it about time that Britain took public speaking a little more seriously? I’m sure some schools see it as a useful skill, but how many really go out of their way to teach it?
The results suggest not many.
