Gotta tell you I didn’t love this one. I really wanted to. John Stewart is a brilliant satirist, and he is wonderful on television, but he makes a mistake here that John Colbert manages to avoid when he speaks, namely he uses too many platitudes (“We can have animus and not be enemies”), and too many stale metaphors (comparing the American population to cars on the freeway).
The big public speaking sin, however, is that this speech simply lacks bite. Stewart has been hammering Fox News for years about their fear-mongering, and it was not lost on anyone that this march was a chance for Steward to really drive home his point. So what is his thesis?: “The press did not create our problems, but it’s existence makes solving them all that much harder”. Not exactly a call to action! Way to ride the fence. C’mon John why are you holding back?
The speech suffers from a desire to be too decorous and civil. Stewart doesn’t have the gumption to mention the networks, or the anchors, who are perpetuating fear, nor indict the culture that buys into the fear-mongering. Ultimately the speech turns into a gooey, sentimental, slack affair culminating in Stewart thanking the audience for being “present”. Snore.
In December of 1964, Mario Savio, a student at Berkley, gave a speech demanding that the university lift the ban of on-campus political activities, and honor the student’s right to free speech. Now here’s a speech with some bite:
What do you think? Was Steward brilliant or a bore?
Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is a public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.