Pitch Invasion

There’s a lot of pitching about these days in professional services, with clients old and new wanting you in the room to see the whites of your eyes. In other sectors hard times are testing leadership as never before, and the concept of the set-piece speech in front of sometimes depleted troops has taken on new significance.

Both David Cameron and Ed Milliband delivered their own big pitches at Conference recently, with mixed results at best. Cameron confused those in the body of the kirk and still has no idea how to sell the Big Society. Milliband was nakedly opportunistic in his unequivocal trashing of the Iraq war. Neither spoke well; neither had especially good material; and neither offered a vision proper. Milliband seems like a nice chap and, though warmer, on this evidence doesn’t appear to be as good a platform speaker as his brother. But at least he can say it was his first effort. Cameron has still to deliver a speech that compares with the one that got him to the Tory leadership role five years ago. He needs to use an auto cue rather than notes because all the looking down is distracting. Extempore speaking is fine when, as the Pretender, you have all the time in the world to prep... a luxury not available to Prime Ministers.

We need Cameron to inspire us, whether or not we voted for him: he could do worse than have a look at John F Kennedy’s Inaugural Address in 1961. It’s the vision thing, you know. When JFK said, “But let us begin.” You get the impression the whole country nodded. Cameron never got his colleagues in the room to nod.

Milliband did surprise everyone, not least Cameron, with his better than assured performance at his first Prime Minister’s questions recently. This is all about being in the moment (read some of Blair’s thoughts on this particular parliamentary circus - the half hour is not really about policy: it’s about presentation and planned spontaneity). Apart from the humour Milliband displayed, the highlight of this first contest was the sight of Nick Clegg - sitting as low as he possibly could to Cameron’s left and regularly licking his lips - doing a good impression of the most uncomfortable man in the world.

How you might approach a pitch or big ticket platform speech has been on my mind of late and prompted me to write a story about The Cob and the Crows. The Jackdaws were nimbler and brighter than the swan, but that was not all: they were real risk-takers, too, when they had to be.

And today - whether in a pitch, delivering a rallying cry to the troops or from behind the despatch box at Prime Minister’s questions - sometimes you have to risk it for a biscuit.

Ask Ed’s brother, Dave, about that...

Cheers,

Oratory has been a passion of mine since winning a school debate competition over thirty years ago. My aim here is to share that passion with as many of you as want to listen: to show that your words matter; that the right words, delivered at the right time, said in the right way, really do have the power to change the world.

Have a look at Critiques, Articles and Insights, where I review famous speeches, publish articles and provide insights into what makes a good public speaker.

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