DIGNITY – J. Gillard’s concession speech RE-VISITED

 In Body language, Delivery, Facial expression, Media, News, Politicians, The Winning Voice, Voice

In two days time Australia will have a state election in New South Wales, with a federal election soon to follow. There will be winners and there will be losers. As numerous politicians will be delivering their post-loss, concession speech, it’s timely to re-visit Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard’s concession speech.

This dignified speech is a model example for all politicians.

Below is a post I wrote about the speech on 4 July 2013

The measure of the impact of a speech or presentation must be viewed within the context in which the speech is given.

After being dumped as Prime Minister of Australia last Wednesday, Julia Gillard, who must have felt crushed from this final blow, who had sustained months of withering, vitriolic, brutal, verbal assaults from all sections of the media and the opposition – assaults that would have skewered most other politicians of any stripe – did not cower and whimper off the public stage.

Instead, Gillard took this huge loss on the chin, and in short-order time, prepared a resignation speech, fronted up at a media conference and delivered a passionate, composed, dignified, ‘statesman-like’ speech.

The final performance of a person on the public stage is the one that will be remembered long after the time of the performance. Julia Gillard will be remembered for many things – positive and negative. For this speech, she will be remembered positively.

Here is the LINK for the speech clip

p.s. Dignity is not a word I’d use in association with New South Wales Premier, Gladys Berejiklian in her recent debate with Opposition leader Michael Daley. Berejiklian’s repetitive interjecting while Daley was speaking, combined with mocking facial expressions – was more in line with a taunting, school-girl in a playground, than that of a Premier debating an opponent.

For Daley’s part, his reluctance to ‘push back’ Berejiklian and tell her to be quiet while he spoke – was a mark of timidity.

Here is an ABC News article about the debate with video examples of Berejiklian’s interruptions:

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