The One Thing Hillary Clinton Needs to Do as a Speaker

So how did Hillary Clinton do in her big speech at the Democratic convention? It's now been five days since the speech. There's been a lot of assessment. The reason I'm slow, by the way, as I went on vacation with my family on Thursday morning, the morning of the convention, so was away from the studio, but did get to watch it in real time. And I've assessed a lot of the criticism. Most of the assessment of her speech has been fairly positive. And there's the sense that she did better than a lot of other speeches in the last year. Many commentators and I share this insight say she did better because she didn't yell. Folks, there is a lot of sexism in the world. Hillary Clinton is a target for sexism, but the idea that she shouldn't yell is not a sexist criticism. I personally have criticized Donald Trump. I've criticized Bernie Sanders for yelling. It is something that affects both sexes as something that alienates a lot of audiences. I give her credit for not yelling. Here is the one thing I think that she did poorly that other commentators have not talked about and that I believe is still holding her back. The problem I see with Hillary Clinton's speech when she speaks, is that even though she is not yelling, she is speaking at the same speed. And the pause between each word is the same. Did you hear how I said that? It sounded robotic, and it had nothing to do with what I was saying. It was the fact that I used the same volume. Now, let me say the whole thing again, this time in a conversational way. The problem with Hillary Clinton's speech is that she spoke at the very same speed, in the same tone, in the same volume, and the pause between each word was pretty much exactly the same. Now, I just said, not word for word, the same, but essentially the same thing. But the first time I said it, I said it in a somewhat mechanical way because I spoke at the same speed. Now, in neither case was I yelling, and in either case did Hillary Clinton yell. But when you speak at the same speed and you put the same pause between each word, it makes people feel that they're listening to a computer. And it sounds somewhat contrived. So this is a problem that affects people because especially when they're reading, they're trying to get each word just right. They're trying not to make a mistake. I understand. Especially if you are speaking at a political convention and tens of millions of people are watching you, and unless you become president, it's going to be the largest audience you ever address. So I understand why people want to get it just right. But it's not enough to get the words just right. You have to convey it in a way that makes people feel comfortable with you. Again, I don't want to sound overly harsh of Hillary. I think she did a much better job than she normally does because she did solve the problem of not yelling. Initial polls show that she helped herself more than hurt herself, but it's still not great. Why can't she speak in a way that's great? After all, she is married to the best public speaker in the world, in my view, Bill Clinton. And there's really nothing Clinton does well that other people can't do well, too. So here's how I solve that problem when I'm working with Clinton. And here's what I would do if Hillary were my client, and she is not a client of mine. Although, full disclosure, I have been hired to work with members of her family in the past, many years ago, 20 years ago, but I have no official connection with the campaign at all. But here's what I would do, and it's what I do with most trainings is I would tape her having a conversation with me one on one, and really capture parts where she's completely conversational. And by all accounts, anyone who's ever talked to her says, you talk to her one on one. She comes across as the most likable, engaging person in the world. So I would record her talking, and then I would record her giving the set speech. And I would just show several times, here you are for 30 seconds talking. Here you are for 30 seconds giving your speech. Now I want you to listen to all the changes of the volume in the conversational one. And now let's listen to it in the set speech where the volume is the same. Now let's listen to the the changes in speed in the first one. And she'll see, sometimes she'll speak a little faster, sometimes slower. That's what people do in conversation. Now listen to the speed in the second speech and you will see that the speed is much, much more consistent. Now let's listen to the pauses. The pauses are more pronounced in the conversation, and yet the pauses, the space between each word, are much more consistent in the speech. So now you've got to do it again. And all I want you to focus on and let's just pick 30 seconds of your speech. I want you to specifically focus on sometimes speaking a little faster, sometimes a little slower, sometimes pausing. And I would just focus on the 30 seconds again and again and again. Until the speech 30 seconds sounded like the secret conversation. What I try to do with all of my trainings is to get people to not have an intellectual understanding, but to actually see themselves do it the right way and to have a new role model for themselves. And the role model should be themselves. All of you, unless you're a rabid, rabid Hillary hater, you have seen her in a TV interview that's one on one where you thought, wow, this person seems relaxed, nice, comfortable, conversational. And yet all of you, even those of you who love Hillary, have seen her give speeches where she seemed a bit formal and stiff and structured. And there's clearly a difference. And I would keep working with her again and again and again until she could make herself sound the way she does in a one on one conversation, regardless of how long the speech is, regardless of the length of the speech. So that's a little insider. That's my take on it. I'd love to hear from you. There's a lot of nonsense involving commentary of politician speech because many, many people cannot separate their own views on political positions versus how someone speaks. But I'd love to hear from you. Post your comments here on whether you're watching this on YouTube, Facebook or listening on itunes. Thanks.