Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Conference Speechwatch Number 2 - Gordon Brown

I had the great privilege of being able to talk over Gordon Brown on air today. I was giving a live commentary on his speech on Sky Active (if you've seem fanzone on Sky Sports, you'll know what I mean). I was in a voice-over booth at Sky News with a screen showing the speech live, and a microphone. I was told by the guys in the newsroom that over 500,000 people listened to my commentary, and I was the most popular of the eight "active" windows under the red button. Even some of the Sky Newsreaders were listening to me. Frankly, I'm chuffed.

Oh yes, the speech. It was typical Gordon, I thought. Unspectacular, steady hand on the tiller, Labour are the party to steer us through, etc, etc.... A good move for Sarah Brown to introduce him, I thought. The sections on the NHS were when he looked most relaxed,and got the best response. He doesn't do the humour thing well, and delivered few telling sound bites. Nevertheless, as a "can I keep my job?" speech, it worked, I think.

As for policy, I make no comment for or against. I'm not a politician, I'm a speech expert.

Next week, Cameron's speechwriters will have a field day, I'm sure. He's a much better orator, and gets the advantage of going last. Look out for my report.

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