Lord Peter Mandelson- The Third Man Lessons To Be Learned From A Public Speaking And Effective Speaking Expert
Peter Mandelson has been at the centre of British politics and shaping the Labour party for the last 15 years. Whether you agree with him or not, you cannot deny his very effective speaking, communication and public speaking abilities. Mandelson has just published his memoirs in his book The Third Man and not surprisingly they have created some controversy.
His effective speaking abilities could be clearly seen when I went to an event in London organized by The Times and Foyles Bookshop. Times columnist James Harding interviewed Mandelson on stage and his performance was a brilliant example of both effective speaking and how to have an audience eating from your hand.
It is said that when you want to know how to do something that you do not need to learn how to do it yourself, you simply need to find someone who is good at it and role model or copy them. In this case our focus is effective speaking and public speaking. Let’s look at what contributed to his very effective speaking performance.
There are certain key factors which lead to good speaking. Let us call them the paths to effective speaking. Path 1 is to be well organized and path 4 is the words and language that you use.
Here is how Peter addressed these two paths to effective speaking;
Path 1 – He was well prepared and knew his stuff.
Rather then jumping in to answer a question either from James Harding or from the audience, he paused for between 2 to 4 seconds, to give himself time to think and only then answered.
The interviewer controlled the questioning from the audience and no speeches were allowed, only questions. An example of effective speaking from James Harding.
Path 4 – You did not need to know the content of his book or be knowledgeable about politics to understand the words and language used to get a lot from an evening with this effective speaking expert.
For someone of his intellect, he still chose language which was easy to understand.
Further when speaking he used self deprecating humour to great effect, and with a slant that always made him seem in command of the situation.
This for me was one of the great insights and lessons that I learned from watching an effective speaking and public speaking master at work.
In a nutshell what we can learn from Peter Mandelson is that to be an effective speaking and public speaking master you firstly need to take your time when answering questions, don’t panic and give yourself time to think, and secondly, use language that is easy for your audience to understand.
Learn the Art of Effective Speaking – Secrets and Strategies of the Very Best Speakers in the World. Go to www.thespeakingwell.co.uk to find out more.
