Pagoda View

Time To Revive The Role Of The Speech In PR

21 Jan 2009

Barack Obama’s inauguration speech was a timely reminder that oratory still has its place. The persuasive impact of unimpeded face to face communication has no equal.

The best speakers can appeal directly to the emotions and aspirations of the listener in a way which few other communications channels allow. Yet too often PR practitioners forget the role which the traditional speech can play in building understanding and commitment.

Did you spot that Obama did not use any PowerPoint for his speech? No really! Not even a couple of slides of handy bullet points.

When John F Kennedy asked Americans to consider ‘not what their country could do for (them) but what (they) could do for their country’ he did not bring out a giant flipchart to scribble down a few ideas for consideration.

When Lenin jumped on top of an armoured car to address the revolutionary proletariat at the Finland Station in 1917 he did not say ‘I have brought along a few handy visual aids to help hold your interest’.

And when, in 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru announced that ‘at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom’ he resisted the temptation to produce an alarm clock and nudge the hands with his fingers for visual effect.

It is hard to imagine any of these iconic speeches with visual aids. And yet too often we forget to use the power of the speech, free from these obstructions, as part of our communication programmes. Maybe Barack Obama will inspire us to be more bold?

Ian Coldwell