Rep. Nancy Pelosi's ascent as Speaker of the House is a landmark in American history. Even her GOP counterparts, often zealously partisan, acknowledged the historic nature of celebrating the first ever woman speaker. The remarks of Minority Leader John Boehner were particularly gracious, both in words and in tone.
As the father of a teenage daughter, I admit to shedding tears of joy when Pelosi proclaimed, "For our daughters and our granddaughters, today we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters now, the sky is the limit. Anything is possible for them."
That line resounded with poetry worthy of the ages. Unfortunately, the rest of her speech was quite run-of-the-mill. In addition, she has never been viewed as a top-flight communicator in public settings. That trend continued in her maiden address as speaker.
I lack enough insider knowledge to know where the problem rests. Perhaps it is time for a new speechwriter. Maybe she needs to unshackle her current speechwriting team. Or the speech may have been edited by committee, always sure to result in a terrible product.
It was all too predictable, relying on the tired construct of the rule of three, in which you bunch things in trios. While listening to even this brief speech, I found myself knowing what was coming next. Not necessarily the exact words, but I knew for sure there were three ideas coming my way.
Some examples, with the rule of three ideas in bold type (note the threepeat within a threepeat in the last excerpt):
"Each of us brings to this Congress our shared values, our commitment to the Constitution, and our personal experience."
"Our founders envisioned a new America driven by optimism, opportunity and strength."
"A new America that seizes the future and forges 21st century solutions through discovery, creativity and innovation, sustaining our economic leadership and ensuring our national security. A new America with a vibrant and strengthened middle class for whom college is affordable, health care is accessible, and retirement reliable. A new America that declares our energy independence, promotes domestic sources of renewable energy, and combats climate change."
I am not suggesting that the rule of three should not be used. It can be a powerful oratorical device. But, as with anything used to excess, it becomes quickly predictable and tiresome.
Pelosi's speechwriters don't seem to have captured her voice and rhythm. The phrases seemed to totally ignore her breathing pattern, forcing her to sound winded at times or to take breaths in awkward places.
The new speaker's delivery also needs some polish. She stumbled over words frequently. One or two hiccups are not a big deal. But when it becomes noticeable, it becomes a distraction, causing listeners to zero in more on the halting delivery than on the message being delivered.
In most cases, such stumbling means a lack of practice time. I cannot begin to imagine the demands placed on a new Speaker of the House. But given the importance of this address -- the first time many Americans sized her up -- I suspect some more dedication to rehearsal of the final product would have helped.
There was one other distracting habit. I suspect that someone, sometime told her to use her hands when she speaks. Bad advice. Her hand gestures looked forced and were far too active, again detracting from her message. If you normally talk with your hands, then use them when you speak in public, provided your gestures are not too wild. If you tend not to talk with your hands, don't force it. The movement will come across as stilted.
To Pelosi's advantage, she draws on a huge reservoir of goodwill, and rightly so as the first female Speaker of the House. Here's hoping she takes heed of the need to sharpen her communications edge. It will serve her well over time.
