TV talk about prices: "£499" = a lot, "4-9-9" = a little
Did Mr Lickley pause for longer than usual at this particular point in the Tabak trial?
"There is another side to Vincent Tabak. He is dishonest, deceitful and he is a liar."
'The reason why applause in political speeches seemed a promising place to start was because it provides instant and unambiguous evidence that listeners are (a) awake and paying close attention and (b) approve strongly enough of what’s just been said to show their approval of it (by clapping hands, cheering, etc.)' - for more on which, see HERE.
Professional broadcasters should beware of saying "um" and "er"
The previous post on a famous broadcaster who speaks more effectively on television and radio than when he's lecturing (Melvyn Bragg) reminded me that there are also some professional broadcasters who punctuate their reports and interviews with rather more "ums" and "ers" than they should.
Someone I've noticed doing this is Adam Boulton, political editor of Sky News. On turning to YouTube for possible examples, even I was surprised that I had to look no further than the very first clip I came across (above), in which you'll hear 37 "ums" and "ers" in 150 seconds - at a rate of about one every 4 seconds.
• Needless noises?
A normal feature of conversational speech is the way we punctuate much of what we say with ums and ers. But, for audiences trying to listen to a speech (or broadcast) this can become a major source of irritation, because presenters who retain their normal conversational umming/erring rate come across as hesitant, lacking in confidence, uncertain of their material and badly prepared.
• Don’t worry – I’ve started
In conversation, one of the commonest places for ums and ers is right at the start of a new speaker’s turn, where we use them to avoid what might otherwise be heard as a potentially embarrassing silence - by indicating: "I'm not being impolite or disagreeable but am about to respond any second now". But some public speakers (and broadcasters) make a habit of starting almost every new sentence with an um or an er, of which they’re typically completely unaware of until they hear themselves on tape - when most are appalled by the negative impact they must have had on their audience.
• When pause-avoidance loses its point
If the primary functions of ums and ers in conversation are to avoid silences and reduce the chances of being interrupted, they lose their point in presentations and broadcasts. After all, presenters are not competing to hold the floor in the same was as in everyday conversation and, once in full flow, they certainly don't need to keep reminding us that they've just started a new sentence. As a result, umming/erring rates that would be perfectly normal and hardly noticed in everyday conversation stand out as needless distractions when heard from the mouths of presenters.
In the particular clip above, it could be argued that Adam Boulton's umming/erring reflects his uncertainty in the face of two things that are new to him: (1) the gadget he's showing to the interviewer (and us) and (2) giving a televised
Tomorrow's World style demonstration that's far removed from his natural habitat of political interviewing and reporting.
But the reason I started looking for a video clip of him in the first place was that I'd often noticed (and been surprised by) the frequency of his umming and erring in his regular contributions on Sky News.
Nor, would it appear, am I alone in having done so - as his was one of the names mentioned on Twitter yesterday after I'd invited people to guess the identity of the umming/erring television news presenter about whom I was planning a blog.
P.S. BBC policy on ums & ers?
Effective broadcasters aren't always effective public speakers: the case of Melvyn Bragg
Gaddafi as orator: a life in quotes - with thanks to Al Jazeera
Famously dubbed the "mad dog of the Middle East" by Ronald Reagan, the former president of the US, Gaddafi did little to dispel that nickname in his wild orations and writings. In 1975, he outlined his political philosophy in "The Green Book" which carried the subtitle, ""The Solution to the Problems of Democracy; The Social Basis to the Third Universal Theory."
No matter how he is remembered by history, Gaddafi’s legacy as an orator is assured. Here are some famous Gaddafi-isms from his nearly 42 years in power:
— Remarks to a crowd including King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and having his microphone cut on March 30, 2009, as quoted by The Scotsman in the article "Gaddafi walks out of summit after attack on Saudi king" by Salah Nasrawi.
"There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet."
— Spoken at a conference at Columbia University in New York City on March 23, 2008.
"I am convinced that the [Israel-Palestine] solution is to establish a democratic state for the Jews and the Palestinians, a state that will be called Palestine, Isratine, or whatever they want. This is the fundamental solution, or else the Jews will be annihilated in the future, because the Palestinians have [strategic] depth."
— Interview with Al Jazeera, March 27, 2007
"If a community of people wears white on a mournful occasion and another dresses in black, then one community would like white and dislike black and the other would like black and dislike white. Moreover, this attitude leaves a physical effect on the cells as well as on the genes in the body."
— Excerpt from "The Green Book" (1975)
"[Abraham] Lincoln was a man who created himself from nothing without any help from outside or other people. I followed his struggles. I see certain similarities between him and me."
— Pulbished in The Pittsburgh Press on August 3, 1986, in the article "Gadhafi, the man the world loves to hate" by Marie Colvin.
"Irrespective of the conflict with America, it is a human duty to show sympathy with the American people and be with them at these horrifying and awesome events which are bound to awaken human conscience. When I was five, my brother was shot by an Israeli soldier, since then I have been dedicated to uniting the Arab countries throughout the Middle East and retain a trade flow with the West."
— Reaction to the September 11, 2001, attacks as quoted by CBSNews.com on September 12, 2001.
"All right, then nobody can complain if we ask pregnant women to make parachute jumps."
— Defending his belief that women's "defects" meant that their place was in the home as quoted by TIME on July 23, 1975.
"Libya is an African country. May Allah help the Arabs and keep them away from us. We don't want anything to do with them. They did not fight with us against the Italians, and they did not fight with us against the Americans. They did not lift the sanctions and siege from us. On the contrary, they gloated at us, and benefited from our hardship…"
— Interview with Al Jazeera, March 27, 2007
"There is a conspiracy to control Libyan oil and to control Libyan land, to colonise Libya once again. This is impossible, impossible. We will fight until the last man and last woman to defend Libya from east to west, north to south."
— audio message broadcast on Al-Ouroba TV, a Syria-based satellite station, on August 25, as oppostion forces began as assault on Tripoli.
A not very fantastic speech from Dr Fox
- Simon Hoggart: Liam Fox tiptoes round the notion that he did anything wrong (Guardian)
- Andrew Grice: Fox faces second inquiry as he turns his fire on the media (Independent)
Two engaging women speakers from British politics - and two models for powerful women?
- Are Labour's leading women better speakers than Labour's leading men?
- "May we bring hope" - 30 years since Margaret Thatcher took office as prime minister
- Margaret Thatcher and the evolution of charismatic woman (Part I)
- Margaret Thatcher and the evolution of charismatic woman (Part II)
- Margaret Thatcher and the evolution of charismatic woman (Part III)
- Clinton, Palin and the legacy of Margaret Thatcher
Imagery can take us to the frontiers of science - via scissors, generals and sentinels
50 years of Private Eye: a story of retail, rejection and recognition
The End of Summer - with thanks to Steve Jobs & Flipron
- Steve Jobs shows how to use an object as a visual aid (and how to speak about it)
- Steve Jobs shows how to time the changing of slides (and how not to)
- Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Address (9 million YouTube views at time of posting this + another million in the 24 hours since then)
Cameron's too good a speaker to be following Mrs Thatcher into the teleprompter trap
- Party conference season PowerPoint prize competition
- Politicians and broadcasters in the UK: collaboration or capitulation?
- Clegg's conference speech: 1 plus & 2 minuses
- A comic analysis of Nick Clegg's rhetorical questions
- Ed Balls surfs applause - but don't expect to see it on primetime TV news
- Andrew Neil plays snakes & ladders with Ed Balls before picking up a scalpel
- Stand-up comedy from Ed Miliband
- Why did some Labour members boo & clap when Miliband mentioned tony Blair?
- Did the BBC change its mind on publicising the snake Miliband landed on yesterday?
- Are Labour's leading women better speakers than Labour's leading men?
- The snake (interview) that did for Nixon's reputation & the ladder (speech) that had saved it
Swim or sink with the president of the European Commission
Osborne finds the Tories more enthusiastic about the coalition than they were a year ago
- Party conference season PowerPoint prize competition
- Politicians and broadcasters in the UK: collaboration or capitulation?
- Clegg's conference speech: 1 plus & 2 minuses
- A comic analysis of Nick Clegg's rhetorical questions
- Ed Balls surfs applause - but don't expect to see it on primetime TV news
- Andrew Neil plays snakes & ladders with Ed Balls before picking up a scalpel
- Stand-up comedy from Ed Miliband
- Why did some Labour members boo & clap when Miliband mentioned tony Blair?
- Did the BBC change its mind on publicising the snake Miliband landed on yesterday?
- Are Labour's leading women better speakers than Labour's leading men?
- The snake (interview) that did for Nixon's reputation & the ladder (speech) that had saved it
- Delayed applause at a key point in Nick Clegg's conference speech
- Party conference season prize competition
- Delayed applause in Vince Cable's speech (at same point as in Clegg's)
- More lessons from Vince Cable's speech
- Labour Party leaders' acceptance speeches" Neil Kinnock, 1983; Ed Miliband, 2010
- Ed Miliband "gets it" in his bid to bond with the brethren
- Did David Miliband lose because he was too old and experienced?
- Delayed applause for Ed Miliband's claims on the 'centre ground'
- 'Clap on the name': a practical tip for Ed Miliband and/or his speechwriters
- Delayed applause for William Hague's boast about being in government
- What a peculiar Tory backdrop, Part 2: What do the flags mean?
- Tories 'Bomb Middle England' - by Banksy
- Delayed applause, poor speech writing & delivery strike again in Osborne's speech
- Delayed applause for Cameron's government - from the Conservatives!
- BIG SOCIETY: little applause
- Conference season competition results
The snake (interview) that did for Nixon's reputation and the ladder (speech) that had saved it
The Frost-Nixon interview as the ultimate snake
After all, the party conference season, with its mix of extended interviews with politicians, very short clips from their speeches and much longer clips from media commentators telling us what they're talking about, has yet to grind to a close.
From my point of view, having started the season by asking why our politicians are so willing to play snakes and ladders under media rules that give them little chance of landing on anything but a snake (HERE), the chance to see the Frost-Nixon film could hardly have come at a more appropriate time.
- Party conference season PowerPoint prize competition
- Politicians and broadcasters in the UK: collaboration or capitulation?
- Clegg's conference speech: 1 plus & 2 minuses
- A comic analysis of Nick Clegg's rhetorical questions
- Ed Balls surfs applause - but don't expect to see it on primetime TV news
- Andrew Neil plays snakes & ladders with Ed Balls before picking up a scalpel
- Stand-up comedy from Ed Miliband
- Why did some Labour members boo & clap when Miliband mentioned tony Blair?
- Did the BBC change its mind on publicising the snake Miliband landed on yesterday?
- Are Labour's leading women better speakers than Labour's leading men?