Last night during President Obama’s speech, Representative Joe Wilson from South Carolina shouted “You lie!” in the middle of it. When I first heard about it, I kind of laughed to myself as I thought about how other countries have more spirited debates during these types of speeches. But then I thought a bit more about it and I felt that Rep. Wilson was, politics aside, both unprofessional and disrespectful. As I read the reactions later today, I started to believe that it was a bad idea for him to do that because his actions made him and his party look bad, and gave the other side ammunition and motivation that could change the momentum of the debate. But then as I sat down to write about it, I realized that Rep. Wilson’s outburst could only be described with one word: Brilliant.

Before I get into how I came to my conclusion, I’d like to provide a little background on the situation. First, it is not my intention to argue whether Obamacare (as it’s being called) is or isn’t a good idea. Instead, I’m analyzing whether or not the interruption was a good idea. Second, if you haven’t seen the interruption, here’s a video clip from Youtube:

Finally, in order to really understand the affect this has, you need to take your own political beliefs out of the equation. Most liberals think Joe Wilson is an idiot for his outburst, many conservatives find him a hero. In fact, many conservatives remind us that back in 2005, President Bush was booed by several Democrats during one of his State of the Union addresses. Here’s the video:

So no matter which side you’re on, you’ve got an example of someone heckling a President representing your party (and if you can barely tell where either interruption occurred, you’re not alone). If you think it was wrong for one and not the other to act that way, you’re letting your political bias cloud your judgment. And I want to stress that I found both acts to be unprofessional and distasteful and I don’t think either act justifies the other. But as you’ll see, there’s more to it than just being disrespectful. Let’s look at some facts:

• Prior to yesterday, President Obama’s approval ratings had been sliding according to most major polling organizations. According to many polls, support for his health care reform plans have been sliding as well.
• Calling Obama a good speaker is an understatement. Whether you love him or hate him (or credit the teleprompter for his success), he speaks well and energizes his fans when he talks. His speech yesterday was well crafted.
• There are three types of people that watch any political speech: people siding with the speaker, people against the speaker and people on the fence. Hecklers, protesters and other people that interrupt typically don’t help their cause. They infuriate the speaker’s supporters, embarrass those that side with the heckler and can often nudge those on the fence to the speaker’s side.

So with all that being said, common knowledge would dictate that Rep. Wilson’s outburst was a bad idea. A lot of polls and commentary afterwards, including comments by Obama’s opponent in the Presidential election, John McCain, would indicate it was a very bad idea. Just as I thought it was unprofessional for the democrats to boo Bush during his speech, I felt the same about Joe Wilson. But then I came across another fact:

• Prior to yesterday, very few people knew who Joe Wilson was.

Today, “Joe Wilson” is the most popular search term on the web and on social media services such as Twitter. Today, he set a record for fund raising and his web site got so much traffic it got shut down (keep in mind that not all of this traffic was from fans).

There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and most people can only name a handful (many don’t even know who represents their district). Today, Joe Wilson is one member of that handful.

It’s scary how Washington is becoming more and more like Hollywood in the sense that getting your name out is the most important thing you can do, regardless of the cost. I have no idea what Joe Wilson’s political aspirations are, but where he comes from a conservative district, I suspect he won’t be out of a job soon. I live in a state that’s so liberal, that many of our representatives run unopposed and get away with behavior far worse than heckling the President.

Like the song “Celebrity” by Brad Paisley goes “the more they run my name down, the more my price goes up,” Joe Wilson’s value as a speaker or guest on television or radio has gone up. It’s hard to tell how long his fifteen minutes will last. Remember Susan Boyle? But he certainly made a name for himself. Was his behavior unprofessional? Definitely. Did it help his career? Absolutely. Would I have done it? Not a chance.

Related posts:

1. How Ignorance Will Make Your Small Business Fail
2. A Defeat Every Now And Then Can Be a Good Thing
3. A quick note about politics
4. Mitt Romney – Faith in America

I’ll never forget my first Toastmasters meeting back in 2002. There were three fantastic speeches followed by my favorite part of the meeting – Table Topics. If you’re not familiar with Table Topics, it’s the part of the meeting where folks are welcomed to come up and speak “off the cuff” about the topic of the day. I participated and lasted 47 seconds. And, thanks to the person in the “Ah Counter” role, I found out that I had some filler words. At first, I found that role to be very cool and useful, but there’s two reasons why I question whether or not it’s needed – or even helpful.

The first reason I question the usefulness of it is that I think society has become less formal in recent years and therefore, the standards for what constitutes a good speech (or a good speaker) have dropped. Barack Obama, whether you love him or hate him, is a fantastic and inspiring speaker. However, he (when not using a teleprompter) frequently uses “ums” and “ahs” and no one (outside of his critics and Toastmasters that are obsessed with style) really seems to care. Watching the primary debates for both parties, only Obama and Mitt Romney stood out as great speakers – others were good by today’s standards (and others not so good), but these were the two that stood out to me.

I think the reason for this is that there has been a shift in what constitutes a great speaker. In the past, you needed good substance as well as good style – Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were examples of modern Presidents that spoke well and connected with people. Now, if you can relay a powerful message, most audiences will forgive a few filler words – provided you don’t say “you know” every five seconds.

The second reason I feel that counting filler words is unnecessary (and possibly destructive) is the obsessions that some folks have within Toastmasters with pointing out “ums” and “ahs.” Before I continue, I want to say that I feel Toastmasters is a fantastic organization and have connected with some wonderful people throughout the years because of it. I even recommend it to people that take my public speaking classes. The problem though, is the supportiveness of the organization attracts its share of social misfits – people that either think the world is a Toastmasters meeting or don’t know how to interact with people outside of Toastmasters. These people are a small minority, but their impact is huge and can make the experience less enjoyable for those that encounter them.

A friend of mine who frequently speaks to groups told me that he hated when someone from the audience was a Toastmaster because they’d come up to him afterwards and tell him how many ums and ahs were in his talk. “It’s like those were the only words they heard” he’d complain to me “even though the rest of the audience loved it.” I told him that most people in the organization are not like that – I explained my friends from my former club would never do that outside of Toastmasters. However, I too have been dinged by the “Ah Police” during a recent talk because I had three pregnant pauses – like my friend, the rest of the audience had positive feedback for me.

I know some changes are happening at the International level within Toastmasters. I think the best changes are those that happen at the club level – it’s the best forum for debating the importance of style versus content, the effectiveness of counting ah & ums and keeping the social misfits under control. Toastmasters is a great organization but there’s much bigger world of speaking out there beyond it.

Related posts:

1. The Ah Counter Debate Part 2: More About Ums and Ahs
2. Public Speaking Myths: Joining Toastmasters will Make You a Better Speaker
3. Toastmasters Success – Taking Your Speaking to the Next Level
4. A Toastmasters Primer

Throughout the last six years, I’ve heard at least a dozen folks who are good speakers tell other people that they should never open their speech with “Thanks, it’s nice to be here” or some other cordial greeting. I’ve asked many of these folks why they feel so strongly about it and have yet to receive what I consider a satisfactory answer – a giveaway that I might have a myth on my hands.

Here are some of the answers I’ve received when asking why this is so bad:

• It weakens your speech.
• It bores the audience.
• You miss your chance to capture the audience’s attention off the bat.
• You’re supposed to have a powerful opener.
• It makes you sound too ho hum.

My favorite answer is of course, “you’re just not supposed to.” As I press deeper to get more information, the conversation typically turns sour – people tend to get frustrated after the fourth “but why?” If I could speak for these folks, I’d give the peer pressure answer of “that’s what everyone else says.”

I say that it’s a myth and it’s perfectly okay. Here are some examples:

• Barack Obama accepted his historic nomination for President by starting out with the words “Thank you so much.”
• John McCain accepted his nomination for President by starting out with the words “Thank you all very much.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a great speech at the 2004 Republican National Convention, started his speech off with several “thank yous.”

I could go on and on, but practically every politician that is speaking to a cheering group of supporters starts out with a thank you. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that if you’re giving a speech to a group of cheering supporters (regardless of whether or not you’re a politician), then thanking them immediately is a must.

Now you might be thinking “ok, that’s fine for Obama but what about your run of the mill speech to the local chamber of commerce?” I still say that it’s fine. Yes, a boring “it’s nice to be here” might not be the best way to start a speech but “thank you. I’ve been a fan of this group for years so it’s an honor to be able to address you at this event” can help you score points. Just be sincere, honest and say it with a little enthusiasm and you’ll be fine.

In the event that you start a speech with a thank you and everyone in the audience comes up to you afterwards and says you lost them at the onset, please let me know as I’d love to know which planet your audience was from. Otherwise, do what comes natural and focus on the meat of your speech – you’re material.

Related posts:

1. Public Speaking Myths: Imagining Your Audience in their Underwear Makes You Less Nervous.
2. Public Speaking Myths: Public Speaking is Like Riding a Bike.
3. Public Speaking Myths: There’s No Such Thing as a Dead Audience.
4. Public Speaking Myths: Joining Toastmasters will Make You a Better Speaker

I was just in the car a few minutes ago and saw something which I feel is a bad trend – a vehicle used to advertise the owner’s small business that also had political bumper stickers on it (at least one of which that was somewhat harsh). It caught my eye because one would think that the owner would have enough common sense to not do this because not only is it unprofessional but it’s just plain stupid.

You’re probably by now wondering what this SUV had on it. First, it had a nice door sticker with a color logo for the business (a pet nanny service) on the driver’s side door (I could only see the driver’s side and the back). On the back was a telephone number in large bright letters. Underneath on the rear bumpers were at least four bumper stickers on the bumper.

The two stickers that caught my eye were “Obama ‘08” and “Defend America… Fire the Republicans.” Since I live in Massachusetts, these stickers would normally not catch my eye – and believe me, I’ve seen a lot worse and not just pro-democrat. The reason why they caught my eye was that there was a phone number right above these stickers – which pretty much invites people that might get angered by these stickers to call it. Regardless of where you lean politically, you can probably agree with me up this point. If the car had “McCain ‘08” and “Defend America… Vote Republican” on it, I think it would be equally stupid of the owner (and possibly more so given that this is a very liberal area).

This business owner made two key mistakes. First, he or she mixed business and politics which is bad for business. This not only turns off potential clients that might disagree with you, but it also makes you look unprofessional. I’m of the mindset that’s immature to not do business with someone because I disagree with them politically and I think it’s a shame that so many business owners fear having their clients find out where they lean politically or what religion they are (which is another topic for another day). But I question someone’s judgment in other areas when they advertise their political beliefs a foot away from where they advertise their business.

The second mistake is that they displayed a negative message. Most civil people aren’t bothered that someone differs from them politically so just the Obama sticker on a vehicle without the business info would have been fine. I’ve done business with business owners who have run for local office for both major parties and supported them. I think most of us agree that we wouldn’t stop going to a hardware store just because the owner is registered in a different political party than us.

But we might consider not doing business with them if they put us down because of our beliefs. The “Impeach Bush” as well as the “Impeach Clinton” signs of years back (and it’s only a matter of time until “Impeach Obama” signs start popping up) can anger people, but are attacking that particular politician (although it infers that folks that voted for them used poor judgment). The mistake that this person made was having a sticker that said “fire the republicans” (and again, “fire the democrats” would have the same effect) because it insults a particular group (which may contain potential clients). As a business owner, this makes you come across as one or more of the following:

• Condescending: Telling others that you are right and they are wrong.
• Arrogant: Taking the position that you don’t want the business of a group of people.
• Stupid: Not realizing that people might not do business with you because you’ve insulted them.

So in summary, it’s fine to be politically active but don’t insult potential clients and keep politics out your business. We’ll get into the unfairness of political and religious discrimination in future posts.

Related posts:

1. Are Business Cards Needed For a Job Search?
2. Public Speaking Myths: You Should Never Open With a Thank You
3. Why People Fail
4. Does Toastmasters Really Need the Ah Counter Role?