Prime Minister's negative language on gay marriage says the opposite of what he means

David Cameron has come out strongly in favour of gay marriage but has done so in a way that comes across - on first reading - as if he is against it!


Negatives are a minefield when you are presenting because the audience has to unscramble them before they can be understood - we think in positives and pictures.  The classic example is giving a small child a tray of drinks with the instruction "Don't drop it"; the way they take in that information is: 'drop it' - got that as the general concept, 'don't'.  All the focus is on dropping so that is probably what they do; much better to say "hold it steady" - there is a certain amount they can actually do about that.


So the rule is to change negatives into positives wherever possible, but Cameron's slip was much more fundamental than any of this.  He has been widely quoted as saying: "So I don't support gay marriage despite being a Conservative; I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative".  It probably helps to be there and hear the inflections and emphasis in all the right places, but when you read the reporting of it what hits you is "I don't support gay marriage......"- which is the opposite of what he intended to say!  Aside from sending the audience off in the wrong direction, some wag is going to get a recording of it and cut just where I have.


So what should the Prime Minister have said to get his intended message across? Something like this: "I support gay marriage; some might say I support gay marriage despite being a Conservative; I say I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative." When presenting you want it to be conversational but having made it so, you need to crank up the clarity. 

Cameron's use of Autocue heralds good news and bad for Presentation Skills standards

The news that David Cameron is to start using Autocue for his speeches ('Cameron to be an Autocutie in bid to look less shifty on TV' - Evening Standard July 4) is both good news and bad news for those of interested in presentation skills standards.


The good news is that it puts the focus on on the importance of eye contact - the prime benefit of Autocue - which is too often overlooked.  Strong eye contact positions the speaker as more credible, trustworthy, confident and assertive, as well as more friendly.  The opposite is even more true.  When Tony Blair reportedly sought advice on presentation skills from Kevin Spacey prior to his final conference speech Spacey came back with two recommendations: build in some pauses and work harder at the eye contact.


The bad news is that is will send out the message to presenters everywhere that it is acceptable to deliver from a script and you don't really need to learn that script too precisely.  The fact is that you do need to start with a script - to ensure your presentation is crafted as well as it can be - but then you need to know the content of that script so well that you can deliver it naturally, without any prompts other than a simple 'map' to get you back on track should you be unfortunate enough to 'freeze'.  


There is a fundamental difference between writing for the page and writing for the ear.  The former tends almost inevitably to be more formal and will therefore sound stilted when said out loud.  It may even be difficult to say out loud.  Unless you have a team of speech writers and plenty of rehearsal time you are never going to achieve real success simply by reading off an Autocue.


I always say to those I am coaching that there is one single, very simple secret to successful delivery - and that is knowing what you are going to say.  That is the downfall of most failed presenters ("I thought it would be better off the cuff....I've been so busy I didn't really have time to rehearse etc etc") and truly knowing what you are going to say is what creates confidence, conviction and the subtle points of detail that contribute so much to a successful presentation.  


David Cameron has to deliver so many presentations on such a diverse range of topics - all within a punishing schedule - that he can be excused the use of Autocue.  Most of the rest of us should bone up properly on what we are going to say and step forward with little more than a simple 'map' to get us back on track if we need it.  I call this a 'Confidence Card" because just having it there usually provides enough reassurance to ensure that you don't actually need it.


Nick Fitzherbert's book Presentation Magic is published by Marshall Cavendish

Big Society’s challenges lie in communication as well as timing

The difficulties in making the concept of the ‘Big Society’ fly lay partly in the area of timing – coinciding with the most painful cuts in living memory – but mostly around the very challenging territory of communication.

Unless you are deliberately trying to score political points it’s actually quite hard to argue with the basic principles of The Big Society; the Guardian, for instance says: ‘there’s a lot right with it’.  So you can understand why the Coalition had faith in a re-launch.  And, given my interest in Presentation Skills – and my passionate belief that construction is at least as important as delivery – I had all five senses on full alert as the re-launch was unrolled yesterday. 

Lots of thought had clearly gone into layout, audience mix, logos, lighting and so on.  And then the Prime Minister gave us the Big Society message in a nutshell: “What this is about is giving people more power and control to improve their lives and communities”.  That’s fine but where is the essential Call to Action – what are we meant to go and actually do about it? 

The additional communication challenge here is that it’s not very actually helpful to start pointing to examples of what they have in mind.  The Coalition did this with an approach to the advertising industry (which, as Sir Martin Sorrell tells us, doesn’t actually exist any more) which just served to highlight a series of flaws and personal sores in the shape of the disappearance of public sector budgets.

Compare Cameron’s message with Kennedy’s classic inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”.  That is an inspiring Call to Action designed to generate ideas and energy from within and to develop a genuine sense of ‘we’re all in it together’.