Monday, September 29, 2008

Presidential Debate: All About Style & Delivery

The first presidential debate is over, and the political pundits have weighed in on both candidates’ performance.

Most of you reading this probably watched the debate, or at least read/heard about it.

So much of endless conversation following the debate had little to do with substance – and much to do with presentation style.

On one hand, this saddens me – and on the other hand, this is no surprise.

I see this regularly as I coach and train people on their presentation skills. We work on the message and the flow, but even with a great message, it can be ruined by poor delivery.

Here are four questions that presenters need to ask themselves (take note Senators McCain and Obama for your next debate):

1) Is my delivery congruent with my message?

2) Do I have good eye contact?

3) Do I have an executive presence (good posture, animated face, open gestures?)

4) Am I credible, believable and authentic?


There will be more presentation skills to analyze this Thursday, as we see the first Vice Presidential debate.

These are certainly interesting times!

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