Speaker in the News

Put your politics aside, and look at the behavior of those in the political/public world. We can learn.

The prosecuting attorney Patrick Fitzgerald did a great job in well over an hour of announcing the indictment of Scooter Libby. He did NOT use a teleprompter, but he talked without a non-word in detailing a lot of details! Very impressive.

I heard him first on a car radio, coming back from a speech myself, and found him compelling enough - voice only - to listen and be a few minutes late for a coffee. He changed my view - a monotone voice CAN work. He was direct, straightforward, compelling in comment and the specifics, including complex law - and he never raised his voice. But perfectly appropriate for what he was doing.

He created a COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE that was exactly right for this situation - low key, thorough, researched, and a strong voice with no theatrics, and actually the reverse. So it worked well, whether conscious or not, to making a convicting and compelling argument.

Fitzgerald also handled the Question and Answer session brilliantly - one of the best I've seen. And used a great SHARP principle with his baseball metaphor. And some other picturesque (and monotone) voice language.

We'll see where he goes from here, but I think Patrick Fitzgerald has burst upon the national scene with an impressive impact.