The Queens’ gambits
Presentations are like chess games. Every move counts and acting with too much caution will make your audience switch screens. If you do not want to compete for attention with Beth Harmon, learn from three female leaders from Brussels, London and Amman who show us how to take risks and shine in public.
Una storia di Rinascimenti
6 May 2021 - Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gave a speech right before Europe Day. Dressed for the occasion in yellow against a blue backdrop, she spoke for 21 minutes. The goal was to spread hope and demonstrate leadership by announcing a European renaissance in the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region.
The German citizen born in Brussels did not play it safe. Her team could have ordered a solid, off-the-shelf speech embroidered with some parts in her mother tongue or French. However, she decided against it and the speechwriters went for an “Italian gambit”. Similar to the chess opening, the goal is that you look at boring lines and turn them from piano into forte. She does it at the start, in the middle and at the end.
The safe (and mundane) option would have been to record at the EU institutions in Brussels. Presenting at the European University Institute was a conscious choice because tourists and historians flock to the birthplace of the first Renaissance marvelling at the architecture and drawing inspiration from the past. Von der Leyen narrated how art and science helped Italians overcome the plague in the 14th century and how solidarity as well as vaccines are propelling Europe into a more resilient future.
Florence already pops up in the first paragraph. She then mentions the tragic beginning of the current pandemic in Italy before spreading optimism through an ebullient anecdote about a young teacher called Don Lorenzo Milani. Two of the 180 sentences are not in English. She introduces the theme with “La storia d'Europa è una storia di Rinascimenti.” and concludes with (André Rieu’s phrase) “Viva Italia”. Although we see plenty of ways to improve her performance, the fact that von der Leyen tried to include “local elements” certainly enhanced her speech.
Meanwhile in the United Kingdom
11 May 2021 -“Megxit” and the Duke of Edinburgh ceased dominating the headlines of the British yellow press. One month after her husband’s death, England’s longest reigning monarch initiated a new parliamentary year. Fewer attendees and less pomp marred the usually festive character of the ceremony. Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by her son the Prince of Wales, read out an eight-minute speech on what should happen after Covid, prepared by ministers.
The Queen had a lot of ground to cover. Boris Johnson’s cabinet unveiled 30 new laws ranging from infrastructure to online safety. The Labour opposition and trade unions criticised the lack of ambition and details on reforming social care, but besides that she seemed to have managed to please many stakeholders. How did she succeed?
Bill Clinton might have inspired Her Majesty. In his book “Eloquence: The Hidden Secrets of Words that Change the World”, public speaking coach Peter Andrei reveals a trick US presidents use to transition from one topic to the next without confusing the audience: while constructions. The monarch similarly did not just rattle off bullet points but applied the technique to bridge bills, albeit in the Queen’s English. In the official transcript, you can read the following:
“My Government will lead the way in ensuring internet safety for all, especially for children whilst harnessing the benefits of a free, open and secure internet.”
“My Government will help more people to own their own home whilst enhancing the rights of those who rent.”
“My Government will invest in new green industries to create jobs, while protecting the environment.”
There are more ideal scenarios than those where you have limited time at hand but a lot of boxes to tick. In such situations, include while (or whilst) constructions to guide your audience from the beginning to the end.
صاحب بالين كدّاب وصاحب تلاتة منافق ؟
26 September 2019 - Queen Rania Al-Abdullah’s influence does not stop at the Jordanian border. One reason might be her international upbringing. The daughter of a Palestinian couple was born in Kuwait and graduated in Cairo. Another reason might be her social (media) engagement on human rights issues, which led to regular speaking engagements at big conferences. Two years ago in autumn, Google and the United Nations asked her to share her views on how artificial intelligence can advance the sustainable development goals (SDGs) - a double-edged sword.
Her Majesty did not hack around. The speech starts with some quick praise for the host and then takes a surprising turn. If the representatives of Big Tech in the room expected a conform laudation, they probably held their breath in the second minute. Queen Rania brought up concerns of human rights NGOs over artificial intelligence briefly before pointing out its potential. The criticism happened overtly yet briefly. What helped her get her worries and warnings across?
Simon Lancaster knows the answer. Rhetorical devices are in his wheelhouse as he worked for members of Tony Blair’s cabinet and coaches CEOs today. In his guide for speechwriting, he recommends the example triad to illustrate points. It works by stating a claim and then illustrating it with three quick examples. Queen Rania uses it to share criticism without dwelling on the subject as you can see in this part of her speech:
“We must recognize another important fact. Which is that our seeing machines have some worrying blind spots. Maybe you’ve read about the AI that analysed years of legal data and concluded that white defendants were more deserving of mercy in a court of law [Example #1]. Or the chatbot that read Twitter and adopted the language of misogyny [Example #2]. Or the facial recognition systems that are literally less capable of seeing a dark-skinned person as human [Example #3]. The tragic fact is that these AI-driven blind spots mirror our own. Machines are looking closely at the society we’ve built, and they’re envisioning a future that looks a lot like our past. The good news is that humans can provide a corrective lens. We can create machines that not only recognize inequalities but help us to correct them.”
The title of this section refers to an Arabic idiom. It says that if you are trying to do two things at once, you are fooling yourself, and anyone trying to do three things at once is even more self-deceived. The example triad can be both a gamble and a gambit. However, we recommend adding it to your repertoire because dropping three quick examples often gives you a subsequent positional advantage.
Three tips to improve your speeches:
Strengthen your ethos through local references and expressions.
Use while constructions to segue and cover a lot of ground.
Sneak in subtle criticism with example triads.
- written by Benjamin Wilhelm, benjamin[at]thedandeliongroup.eu
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