- He converted his nervousness (if he was nervous) into energy to animate his delivery.- He spoke in short sentences -- most of the time at least.
- He used the principle of 3's to organize his speech, dividing it into 3 major parts -- the economy, the economy and the economy, with asides on health care, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and bipartisan politics.
But he clearly took my advice on humor. He didn't try to open his address with a joke. ("A Democrat and a Republican walk into a bar ....") Instead he sprinkled it with humorous asides:
- Bailing out the banks was "like root canal."
- "I thought I'd get some applause on that one" -- his listing of how he's cut taxes.
- "It should be obvious I didn't take on health care because it was good politics."
- "Let's try common sense, a novel concept."
- On his desire to start regular meetings with both Democrats and Republicans -- "I know you can't wait."
I also liked how he established rapport with his audience by shaking all of those hands on his way in. My only suggestion for his next SofU Address: Make it shorter so you can take questions afterward.
4 comments:
Calling out the SCOTUS while they were seated only feet away was pretty dramatic too. Drama is always good.
Thought you were getting off-color for a minute ... Yes, the Supreme Court justices may not want to sit up front next time. Observers said Alito mouthed, "Not true." And who knows what kind of gestures Kennedy and Roberts were making under their robes?
As a service to an old friend and colleague, we've asked the team of dozens of interns and researchers here at Working With Words to pore over thousands of White House photos, looking for one that establishes visual evidence of him having read your blog. When we find it, we'll be sure to send it along.
Meanwhile, I'll dream on ....
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