Can you remember a presentation that has long stayed with you? What was the secret power that it held? It likely was the passion of the speaker. The presenter was perhaps someone you would consider a good candidate to be a friend – just one of us ‘normal’ folk.
I found a clip of a speech given by Senator Diane Savino speaking on gay marriage legislation that is/will be voted on by members of the New York State Senate. The clip extends seven minutes. I watched the entire clip. This is unusual for me because usually I get bored and turn off clips within a minute.What makes Senator Savino different? She speaks with passion and believes in her cause. And her passion outstripped her fidgeting and gesturing. The clip received over 327,000 views and over 1300 positive comments.
This comment was one of the few that was negative:
Comment on YouTube from:Monkeysniffer08
wow…. she has some horrible speaking habits…..- pen clicking- fidgeting- rubbing her ear- holding her pen and flinging around with it.Monkeysniffer noticed and so did I. But I didn’t care.Her message outshone les faux pas.Which proves you do not have to be a perfect speaker — just a speaker who speaks with passion and believes in your own words.
Next post I will write about Senator Savino’s speech and her use of rhetorical persuasion.
@OliviaMitchell provides another great speaking tip on Twitter and shows how passion trumps technique. This example is from the blog of Janice Tomich, and it shows how the message, the content, can carry a presentation even when a speaker doesn't pay attention to distracting habits. Click through for the video.