Hurricane Hannan
by Graham Davies

Most politicians regard Freedom of Speech not as a right, but as a continual obligation. But not Daniel Hannan. His verbal blitzkrieg on Gordon Brown managed to encapsulate in 3 minutes what many of his Conservative colleagues have spent several years saying.

His performance was a presentational triumph. I accept that there was more than a hint of Smart-Alec-at-the-Oxford-Union....and the speech consisted entirely of assertion without supporting evidence.

But the sheer effort he had put into finding short and memorable phrases (you have run out of our money) paid off handsomely. He had also clearly rehearsed the speech several times so there was hardly a stumble or hesitation when he glanced down at his notes.

The real secret of his success was that the speech was so short.

It was a stunning contrast to David Cameron's 76-minute Party conference speech which seemed to owe alot to Tolstoy.

Whenever you are preparing a speech or presentation, remember that everyone's attention span is so much shorter than it was 10 years ago. No-one wants the chap spouting at the front of the room to take of more of the day than absolutely necessary.

For a speech to be immortal , it does not have to be eternal.

Chatty Obama
by Graham Davies

I have said many times that Obama is an Olympic-level Autocue Athlete. He is now trying to broaden his presentational appeal by being more spontaneous in front of the cameras. He is now so confident about his charisma that he is happy to cause the delay of this week's broadcast of American Idol so that he can make a Presidential Broadcast.

His newly-found chattiness reached its peak on the Tonight show. Let's face it, Jay Leno is no Jeremy Paxman. The unscripted "humour"about his bowling ability "being like something out of the Special Olympics" was not squeezed out by brilliant cross-examination.

He came out with that piece of crassness simply because he forgot one of the cardinal rules of presentation: never relax in front of any audience. You should always stay sharp, focused and calculating....especially when you are trying to look spontaneous.

Here's an idea Mr President: spend a bit less time on fluffy television, and a bit more time with your Treasury team. Create a comprehensive and innovative way of rescuing your economy that doesn't just sound like Spend Spend Spend.

Now that would be special.

What was that, mate?
by Graham Davies

I have watched Deva Kumarasiri interviewed several times on television over the last 36hours. He seems genuinely surprised that his policy of not serving Post Office customers with a poor grasp of spoken English has caused such resentment in the local community.

On camera, there is no doubting his commitment to the cause of linguistic discrimination.

However, his overall presentation of his case was really rather poor. I didn't grasp it at all...because his accent was so strong that I simply could not understand what he was saying.

Cameronspeak
by Graham Davies

David Cameron's speechwriters have a real talent for creating memorable phrases that make headlines. Yesterday, he promised that a Tory government would not behave like "flint-faced turbo-charged accountants when it comes to public spending".

Striking? Yes. Understandable? No.

I am certain that the denizens of KPMG, PWC and their high-adrenalin brethren will not be impressed by Dave's take on their profession.

I think we have more to fear from baby-faced ambition-driven politicians when it comes to public speaking.

Autocue Angst
by Graham Davies

Barack Obama is a Black Belt in the Martial Art of speaking in public using an autocue. Fortunately, he seems to have a sense of humour to go with it.

At the White House yesterday, in a marvellous demonstration of the fallibility of technology, the script of his speech was put up on the autocue screens when it should have shown that of Bernard Cowen , the Irish Prime Minster. Cowen only realised the situation when he started his speech by welcoming himself.

He managed to rescue his credibility by smilingly expressing his exasperation at the fact the machine was not idiot (or politician) proof.

Obama went on to begin his own time at the microphone by thanking the President of the United States. We all hope that this was brilliantly improvised comedy and not the most powerful speaker in the world showing that he is better at reading than thinking in public.

There is a lesson here: never bet your life on an autocue. Always have a copy of your speech in your pocket in case of cock up.

When presenting under pressure, it pays to be paranoid.

Rights said Fred
by Graham Davies

In the higher reaches of the private sector, the term Pension "Rights" is something of a misnomer: you don't get what you deserve, you get what you can negotiate. Fred Goodwin is clearly a master of the art.

Negotiation of a remuneration package is one of the most personal forms of presentation: both sides are talking about the value of a human being and their skills. Fred rates himself very highly and RBS clearly agreed with that valuation. RBS must surely have known the full cost implications of the agreement when they entered into it.

That should be the end of the story, no matter what the rest of us think of the amounts involved. But Harriet Harman says that the pension is not acceptable in the "Court of Public Opinion". As an experienced solicitor, she should not be surprised if a judge thinks that the decision of a Court of Law is more important.

The government also argues that Fred should have the amount reduced in a way that is commensurate with the negative financial consequences to the bank of any poor decisions that he made while holding office.

Fine. Let's have the same formula applied to Tony Blair for the costs incurred by invading Iraq.