First, to all reflexive types: This post is not about Sarah Palin. It is about public speaking, something I have done quite a lot of in my life - rather successfully, if I do say so myself. Giving a speech or a lecture is not the same as reading one. I usually have a complete text in front of me, but it has highlighted phrases that I take as my cues (I have also given more than a passing glance to Rhetorica ad Herennium, and I studied rhetoric and public speaking in college, thanks to which I had one of my great undergraduate successes). I have also given talks just from notes. Those notes can be written anywhere. I usually use a little scrap of paper. But you can also write them on your shirt cuffs - though there goes that shirt. Or your hand. Anyway, if you've never stood before an audience and tried to be coherent about something for maybe 45 minutes, don't be too hasty - like this dimwit press secretary, who is himself rarely coherent - with your sneers.
I appreciate very much the alerts you give us on a wide variety of topics literary, but I don't appreciate the political stuff at all. And the press secretary isn't a dimwit.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the political stuff. I don't agree with most of it, but I don't mind it. But I must agree with Mr. Baldridge that the press secretary is not a dimwit. I cannot think of any, of either party, that comes close to that characterization in the last few decades other than perhaps Dana Perino. Indeed, what this post -- or, rather, the one it refers to -- sounds most like is the reflexiveness that it warns against.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe I should have refrained form making a personal comment about Mr. Gibbs. But it was not, Gary, a political comment. His behavior in this case was so petty and - as I would like to think the post made clear from my own experience of the subject - so completely wrong that I think calling him a dimwit is almost an act of kindness. As for other press secretaries and their brightness or dimness,Ivanhoe, well Scott McLellan didn't impress me, either. But, as I never watch TV news, I rarely see any of them in action. So I probably should have kept Gibbs out of it. But, to return to the topic of this post, people who do not read their speeches have different ways of reminding themselves of the topics they want to discuss. That's the way it is - and Gibbs, as a person who stands before audiences a good deal, must know that - and probably has some techniques of his own.
ReplyDelete9:18 PM
To begin with, I'd been to events where Frank Wilson has spoken, so I can attest to his skill and ability as a public speaker. (and he is funny as well).
ReplyDeleteI too am a public speaker. I've been addressing groups about crime, espionage and terrorism for more than 25 years. (I've been a public speaker even longer if you count my time in bars as a young guy - ha).
I use large index cards with notes on them and/or powerpoint slides, and I will glance at the cards or the slides during my talk. Most speakers I know do this. Some are more artful than others.
So Palin made a few notes on her hand. So what? She was not taking a test, so it was not cheating.
Press secretary Gibbs may or may not be a dimwitt, but he is surely a political hack.
He took a cheap shot at Palin, even though he often whines and complains about cheap shots against his boss, Obama.
The fact that Gibbs speaks for a living makes his cheap shot even cheaper, in my view.
One can counter Gibb's cheap shot by making fun of Obama calling a Navy Corpsman a "Corpseman," not once, but three times.
(I served in the U.S Navy and I don't recall anyone called a Corpseman. Corpsman take care of sick and wounded sailors and Marines. Perhaps Corpsemen take care of the deceased).
Imagine if Bush or Palin had made this goof (three times)? Of course, Obama read "Corpsman" from his ever-ready teleprompter.
When Sara Palin's teleprompter went south while she was delivering her first major national speech, she continuted speaking and gave a fine speech.
I've seen Obama's teleprompter crash on two occasions and he stuttered and stumpled through.
Of course Gibbs is free to make fun of Palin, but he should be concerned that Palin may soon put him out of a job.
Frank began his post by stating that the comments were not about Sara Palin. They were about public speaking.
No doubt Mr. Gibbs took a cheap shot at Mrs. Palin, just as Mrs. Palin repeatedly took cheap shots at
ReplyDeletePresident Obama for reading off a teleprompter. I don't have a problem with either technique; Mr. Gibbs did point out her hypocrisy but two wrongs don't make a right. By the way, she used the notes during a question and answer period (which kind of seems like cheating on a test) not simply to remember all of the different topics she wanted to address during her speech. I am biased but Mrs. Palin is just as culpable as Mr. Gibbs. I do wish Mr. Gibbs would not sink to her level.
A reminder is a reminder, whether it's a speech or a Q&A.The test analogy is inappropriate. Again: How often have you spoken in public? What Palin did is common practice. And Gibbs knows that. Personally, I think it is more impressive to speak from notes than to rely on a teleprompter.
ReplyDeleteThe Q&A is even more reason to have notes. It is so easy to respond to and follow other people's agendas, and a simple word for reminder can get you back on your own agenda. This would be especially important for Palin, ever since Couric threw her under the bus. Now every liberal journalist looking for a photo-op is going to try to sidetrack her. She may learn her lesson, but the Q&A is not Palin's forte, so notes on the hand are a good place to start.
ReplyDeleteI read the teleprompter characterization of Obama differently, that she is trying to make the point that everything is not as smooth as it appears. No one has a big red "S" under their shirt. So the fact that Palin uses prompts has nothing to do with how or why she was pointing this out about Obama. I just wish she would give equal time to lambasting Limbaugh for his use of "retard" instead of making excuses for him. It would be a good thing, however, if our government officials cleaned up their acts, at least when they are on the job. That behavior doesn't match Obama's teleprompter image either. What we were seeing is not what we were getting.
It appears that Gibb's joke was not only cheap, it was lame.
ReplyDeleteNational Review reports that Palin wrote "Hi, Mom" on her hand the day after her notes on her hand was reported.
Mary Katherine Ham at National Review noted that Gibbs joke would have been funny if "Sarah Palin hadn't already made the joke, and better, herself."