Speech Advice from Mary Poppins

Here's something we all know - but too often forget:

If your words say one thing and your delivery says the opposite, your audience almost always believes your delivery.

Watch the song "Stay Awake" from Mary Poppins, and let it serve as a gentle reminder of this principle:



From the Green Room: Synthesize your content and your delivery. If your words are meant to inspire and awaken, and your message doesn't match, you just might end up (in your case, unintentionally) putting your audience to sleep!

Gov. Jindal and Mr. Rogers

What can Bobby Jindal's delivery teach us about what NOT to do in front of an audience?

Before he spoke a single word, he bombed. How? By making a Mr. Rogers entrance.

Jindal should have begun his speech with this feet planted - ready to deliver. Instead, he strides merrily towards the camera, much like Mr. Rogers entered the room the beginning of each episode.

What makes this mistake especially egregious is Gov. Jindal's age. He is 37 - the youngest governor in America. What he needed to do at that moment - that critical moment of first impressions - was to raise his status. His Mr. Rogers entrance communicated "casual," and only served to lower his status in the eyes of the audience.

An older, more established politician could have gotten away with it - maybe - but not a junior governor.

From the Green Room: If you're more junior than your audience, make sure that your body language raises your status.