The protests against the attempt to weaken the Israeli democracy are continuing. Every weekend there is a 100,000+ demonstration in central Tel Aviv (14 weeks and counting). As a result, I have heard my fair share of speeches made by politicians and activists.
The bar for a good speech gets higher. A politician who tries a very long sequence of cliche sound bites (we will win, it unfair, we won’t let them), is unlikely to excite the audience anymore. What can work?
- Crowd managment, some people have the charisma, voice, and ability to time sentences to sweep up a crowd.
- Personal stories. Some speakers, even with weaker voices and/or a smaller stage presence, manage to connect to 100,000 people who listen quietly
- Original plots. Coming at things from a different angle, drawing possible future scenarios, rather than cliche sound bites / one liners
- Keeping it short. Most speakers fall in the trap of repeating themselves, and taking too much time. Shorter, even very short, speeches are way more memorable.