Video of Obama’s 2015 State of the Union – analysis
If you’re a business pitch client of mine or a 1:1 executive coaching client of mine or a participant in my Leadership, Listen and speak under pressure, or Delivering memorable messages programmes – my homework assignment for you in the next seven days is to watch Barack Obama’s recent State of the Union address.
(Even if you’re not a client/participant I urge you to watch the address). Here is the link to the address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPFT4xlNE5g
In particular pay attention to the following aspects of the presentation.
– Obama’s consummate ownership of the presentation from start to finish. The ownership of time. Pitch-perfect pauses. Never giving the impression of rushing. So in tune with the moment, connected with himself, his message and the audience.
– His ability to shift between a light and serious tone.
– How, near the latter half of the presentation, after praising the US military, he ‘drove home’ his respect for the military through repeatedly nodding, as the audience continued applauding.
– How quickly the presentation passed in time, despite it being 60 minutes.
Your Call to action/How to apply for this post: After watching the presentation consider what changes you could make to your presentation delivery. Choose one way and work on that change for the next 29 days.
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p.s. I’ll be presenting a Speaking with Impact presentation at the second ACS (Australian Computer Society) Future Leaders Institute later this month. Here’s the link to the event: Speakers at the Institute include: Terry Davis, former MD of CCA, Gail Pemberton, and Dr Stefan Hajkowicz of CSIRO Futures.
