Political Speechmaking
Monday
May 18, 2009
In most local campaigns, candidates have very few opportunities to give lengthy speeches. No one really wants to hear a city council or state legislative candidate talk for 45 minutes. And, most organizations invite multiple candidates to their events. This usually means most of your speeches will be from 3 to 10 minutes long. So, you only have a short time to make a good impression.
If you don’t have much experience at public speaking or if you are out of practice at speaking before a group, you might want to consider joining Toastmasters International. Their focus is on helping people learn to speak in public. The cost is quite modest and the atmosphere is supportive. The individual clubs are run by volunteers. They have over 12,000 clubs in 106 countries so there is a good chance you can find one in your area.
Toastmasters has “10 Tips for Public Speaking” on their web site. These are all good points, but political speaking has some differences. When you make a political speech you are basically selling yourself. So, you can talk about issues, but it is vital that you connect with the audience as a person. They need to like you and think that you are capable of filling the office you are running for. In the brief time you have, you need to let people know a little bit about yourself and target just a few of your key issues. You may even want to limit your talk to one issue that particularly appeals to the group you are speaking to.
Don’t attack your opponent when you are talking to a non-political group. You need to use the opportunity to help them know you better and you don’t want to put the focus on your opponent. Most people really don’t like negative campaigning. Having it come directly from you makes it even more offensive to them.
In a political speech you also need to be extremely careful with humor. Humor scores a lot of points if you do it well, but if you’re not good at humor, don’t strain to fit in a joke. Also, make sure your joke won’t offend anyone. Plenty of politicians have gotten in trouble because they told a joke without really thinking through whether or not it was offensive to some person or group.
Keep in mind that people will be watching you throughout the event, not just when you are speaking. Show the utmost respect to other speakers, talk to as many people as you can before and after the event and be courteous to your opponents and their supporters. People care a lot more about your character than they do about your public speaking ability. If you pull out your cell phone and start answering email when others are speaking, your rudeness may negate whatever support you gained from your speaking skills.
You may win more friends by sticking around and helping put the chairs away after the event than you will from a brilliant speech. Still, it is well-worth putting some effort into becoming a good speaker and creating a high quality speech since most people see public speaking as a skill that politicians should have.
