I went to a talk at the Almeida last night (I know!). The event description (as captured in the Google search cache) was "Have politicians lost the art of persuasion? in association with the New Statesman...A speech can inspire crowds, set out a vision – and change hearts and minds. But in the era of Trump's tweets and social media soundbites, is there a place for great oratory? "
It was interesting. Lots of good thoughts about good speeches. But the question I've been burning to understand for years didn't get discussed.
Why are politicians the last people on earth to do speeches?
(Apart from, I guess, actors)
Everyone else in the world does presentations. They combine a powerful thing (spoken words) with other powerful things (written words and images). Politicians don't. I've never understood it.
Interestingly, there was a screen on stage to play an introductory video. It wasn't used for anything else but the powerful effect of a screen was evident. I'm not saying it's always a good thing, but it's undoubtedly a powerful communicative tool and I don't understand why politicians never use it.