High Impact Presentations: Last Week’s Obama-Romney Debate was Proof that Speaking Forcefully is a Key Ingredient of Successful Public Speaking

By now, everyone who does not live in a cave knows that a preponderant majority of the nation regards Romney to have been the hands-down winner of the first presidential debate, the one that was held in Colorado last week. But what may not be so universally known is that because of the two antagonists’ different speaking styles that evening, Romney’s standing surged at the cost of Obama’s on every major issue that surfaced during the debate--even those issues on which Obama has had a shinier record! This according to a Gallup poll conducted 3 or 4 days after the debate.

While discussing those Gallup results earlier this week, PBS’s “Newshour” pointed out that specific areas in which Romney’s image moved substantially ahead of Obama’s included “candidate of new ideas,” “strong leader,” “willingness to work with others,” and “honest and truthful.”

The foregoing is perfect testimony to the power of forcefulness during a presentation or other public speaking activity. In other words, chances of your presentation being successful are sharply enhanced if you use some of the verbal and nonverbal techniques that help inject force into your words.

For instance, the antonym technique--a key verbal skill to project vitality and conviction, and which was employed liberally by Romney that night--is the defining trait of famed communicators such as former H-P CEO Carly Fiorina and Morgan Stanley's David Darst, as well as the others whom I have honored on the homepage of my website.

© Copyright 2012  V. J. Singal