This isn’t a pro or con Trump/Harris DEEmail, but an analysis of President Trump’s debate performance on Tuesday.
Whether you’re for or against him, you probably agree he wasn’t at his best. Here are five mistakes he made.
- One tone. For the most part, the former president spoke in an intense tone bordering on anger. While intensity and anger can be effective speaking tools, it’s best to use varied emotional intensity.
- Not doing a complete job of future pacing. When speaking to sell, you want to use both moving toward and moving away from motivation by creating a positive mental movie of the future if your audience takes action and a negative future if they don’t. President Trump did an excellent job painting the dark, negative picture but didn’t make the future look bright enough.
- Lack of preparation. Some would argue that Kamala was overprepared with obviously rehearsed gestures, practiced sound bites, and facial expressions, but Trump seemed underprepared, almost as if he was winging it. I’ve made that mistake as a performer and a speaker because of overconfidence, and my show and presentation suffered from it.
- Not varying how he made his significant points. Repetition of your main ideas in a presentation is crucial to ensure your audience embraces your most persuasive points; however, you must deliver those points in varied ways. Trump brought up problems at the border multiple times but repeated the same words almost verbatim. The impact of the point you’re trying to get across is lost when you do that.
- Not asking for the sale. Truthfully, President Trump’s entire “close” was weak. He didn’t recap the benefits, outcomes, or transformation people would get if they “bought his product,” i.e. if he were re-elected. Most egregious is he didn’t ask for the sale, i.e., ask people to vote for him.
Strongly believing that you’ll do a better job than your competitors is a starting point for persuasive communication, but how you structure and deliver your presentation determines whether or not people will buy what you’re selling.
Kick butt, make mucho DEEnero!
Dave “Speak To Sell” Dee