It was all eyes on Theresa May yesterday.
The Prime Minister delivered her long-awaited speech on Brexit at London’s Lancaster House and it was deemed significant enough to not only be broadcast live but also to be the subject of special programmes on news channels throughout the rest of the day.
Political commentators will continue to pour over her words and gather reaction during the coming days and even weeks, but is there anything public speakers and media spokespeople can learn from this high profile engagement?
We have analysed the speech – arguably the most important and high profile of Mrs May’s premiership so far - and have identified five learning points.
Sound bites
Sound bites are key to making presentations memorable and messages stick. Our expert tutors often tell delegates on our presentation and media training courses that no-one is going to remember everything a presenter says, but they will recall short, snappy phrases which get an important point across concisely.
Ahead of each presentation of speech you should spend some time coming up with two or three sound bites that will help support your main point.
And they are also a good way of securing headlines.
Mrs May’s speech was rich in sound bites. Here are a few which stuck out for me.
“No deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain.”
“We are leaving the European Union, but we are not leaving Europe.”
“Britain wants to remain a good friend and neighbour to Europe.”
“This is a moment to build a truly global Britain.”
Arguably there were more sound bites than substance to the speech. The danger with so many sound bites is that the key message may not have been the one that resonates with the media and public. Looking at the media coverage, the ‘no deal’ one appears to have captured the imagination, but only Mrs May and her speech writers will know if that was the key message.
Structure
An effective structure is a vital component of good presentations and something which we focus on during our presentation training courses. When they don’t flow properly the audience gets frustrated, lost and switches off, missing the key messages.
Audiences need to know where the presenter is going just as much as the person giving the speech does.
Mrs May’s speech had a simple yet effective structure using scene-setting and a conclusion to bookend her 12 objectives, a warning to Europe not to ‘punish’ Britain for the Brexit vote and a call for Remainers and Leavers to work together to achieve the best possible outcome.
This structure made a long speech easy to follow and able to maintain attention and interest.
Pace
Public speakers need to speak at a pace which enables an audience to be able to easily follow what they are saying, especially when they are hearing potentially complex or new information for the first time.
Mrs May’s speech was delivered at a noticeably slower pace than she would usually use and included gaps and pauses to emphasise key points.
She also sign-posted parts of the speech where she thought the audience needed to pay particular attention, at one stage using ‘let me be clear’ to signify she had arrived at something important – and unlike most politicians who regularly use that phrase, what followed did actually provide some clarity.
Importantly Mrs May also injected some passion, enthusiasm and optimism into her speech and although she was clearly using an autocue or cards throughout you did not feel like she was simply reading to you.
The use of autocues is becoming increasingly common in the corporate world. Advances in technology means they’re cheaper and easier to hire than ever. You can even get autocue apps on your phone or tablet. In this instance a presidential autocue is most commonly used… maybe even two. It’s not an easy thing to master but with professional autocue training and practice it will enable you to deliver a long or stat heavy keynote speech with amazing results.
Taking questions
Allowing gathered journalists or other audience members to ask questions at the end of a speech is something which can worry public speakers because they fear losing control and it is something which needs to be given careful consideration.
But it is important to remember it can also be used an opportunity to reinforce key messages when used well.
Mrs May’s decision to allow a handful of questions, from both UK and European reporters, added a feeling of transparency to proceedings even if, in truth the session felt heavily orchestrated. Her answers, though were not particularly clear and added little or nothing to what had gone before. Here media training techniques such as bridging would have helped her deliver better responses.
It was also noticeable that Mrs May appeared less assured during this part of the event, with the fluency displayed during the speech replaced by a more hesitant, stuttering approach.
But her personal touch was impressive, knowing the names of the journalists who were asking questions, and she retained control of proceedings making it clear it was coming to an end by saying ‘I’ll take one more question’.
Exit
The end of a press conference or speaking engagement has tripped up many a presenter and spokesperson.
You have probably all seen someone walk away from the stage only to come back and answer one more question shouted from the floor. Or even someone walk off in one direction only to have to double back on themselves to finally be able to leave the room.
It may sound like a small detail but it is the last thing people see and remember and can therefore deflect from your delivered messages. Spokespeople and presenters should ensure they know their exit route before they start speaking.
Perhaps importantly for an event focused on the UK leaving the EU, Mrs May’s exit after taking questions from journalists was clean and efficient.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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