Displaying items by tag: covid19

Covid-19 has seen politicians and Government advisors thrust infront of the camera to deliver important messages.   But has Boris Johnson and his team always hit the mark?  

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Have you seen the call to action TV commercial the Government have put out to encourage the public to get a booster? What do you think of Chris Whitty's delivery? Does it feel impactful and a successful call to action?

We feel it lacks the impact it deserves. And won't therefore have the impact it desires so here's where we feel he went wrong, and here's some suggestions of how it could be more impactful.

1. Prof Chis Witty is clearly reading a script...if you are using autocue to deliver a message use it as a memory tool and not a reading device. You should try and learn your script as best you can. If you are reading you feel detached from what you are saying.

2. He feels very detached from his message. If you are not connected with what you are saying, your audience won't be either. See a script as something to bring to life, to play with, rather than something that restricts your delivery.

3. There's no emotional connection. Chris Witty's read is very dry. But when you are delivering information ask yourself 'what is the tone of my piece and how can I embrace it'? The tone here is a big call to action. A rallying cry to ask the public to take action.

4. He lacks energy. The camera always dilutes what you do. It doesn't add. So if you are ever speaking on camera, make sure your energy is up.

5. Visually it's very flat and lacks impact. Chris looks tired. Like he has lost the battle. But video is a visual medium, so visually you need to connect. So make sure your body is connected, speak from the heart not the head, and look to physically engage with your message.

Let us know what you think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJ1NUboB58

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So, what are your thoughts on Boris' speech?  Do you think it delivered?  Was it clear?  Are we the nation fully briefed and inspired for change?  

We help a whole range of people deliver speeches and we write their scripts too.  So, here's what we thought: 

THE SCRIPT: The basics of any good speech are the words you use – your script. Without good content the rest falls down.  And in this speech the content had to be King.  But we felt his script was too conversional in style and too unstructured making it hard to separate the ‘chat’ from the all too important ‘key information’.  And any key bits of information lacked sufficient detail or explanation.  

STRUCTURE:  Having a clear structure is important for any speech, and it’s often good to set this out from the top.  Boris’ script lacked an obvious structure which could mean that any key details are then in danger of getting lost.  

With any speech making sure your viewer walks away with clear and informed ‘takeout’ is so important.   

ALLOCATION OF TIME:  Boris spent a lot of time praising the nation and most importantly the NHS at the top of his speech. Praise indeed, but these encouraging words were not meant to be the main purpose of this particular speech.  We felt he spent too much time at the top on general context, and not enough time on setting out his new plan.  Having a simple ‘running order’ where you allocate time to the key section of your speech forces your hand to focus in on what is important.   We felt Boris shoud have got to his key points of his new plan much much quicker.  And when Boris did finally get to his plan it felt rushed - it was as if he'd run out of time.

CLARITY: We feel Boris should have adopted a much more instructive approach to his speech, focussing in hard on the details of his new 'call to action'. His language and information needed to be more direct with more explanation and detail on the new points.  The nation has waited a good few weeks for this speech, so our expectations were high and our desire for detail was ready and waiting – but did Boris’ speech feed our need?  

THE PURPOSE: Whenever you are delivering a speech it's important to focus in on the purpose – and also not to forget this purpose.  Ask yourself ‘what do I want to achieve with this’?  So, what was Boris' purpose here - to rally the nation, or to give us clear instructions about how to move forwards?  We felt his purpose was lost. 

HIS DELIVERY: Boris has become a much more confident speaker.  As a leader he has found and developed his own style.  The thumping of the desk, the pointed fists to accentuate his key words…he has become more passionate, more focussed and more connected with what he is saying.  But, in this case we feel his impassioned delivery actually overshadowed the need here for good solid content – pure and simple.  Content in this case should have been King, not Boris himself. 

But what did you think?  Do you agree?  Did Boris deliver?  Did it give you what you needed?