Great Speakers Never Keep Their Audience Waiting
Edwards Gets Demerits for Tardiness on the Trail –Headline from NY Times
John Edwards may be a compelling speaker (I think so), but he does himself a tremendous disservice by showing up late to most of his audiences. Here is an article from last week’s New York Times lambasting Edwards for showing up, on average, 45 minutes late to every speaking appearance in
Iowa. Great speakers understand and respect the psychological mood of their audiences. And keeping an audience waiting for more than 5 minutes is a great way to put an audience in a lousy mood. My advice: do WHATEVER it takes to start and end your speeches on time. This is one skill that George Bush (whatever you think of his modest speaking skills) learned to master a long time ago.
Tags: john edwards, presentations, public speaking, speaking audeince, tardiness