Here are my eight speaking tips gleaned from the debates:

1. Always know your audience – Americans love a good fight, and as a general rule, it’s better to err on the side of being too aggressive during a presidential debate then not aggressive enough. Obama mastered this lesson quickly. Know your audience.

2. Understand the occasion – During the first debate Obama looked like he was ready to chat with members of a PTA meeting, not do battle with a formidable opponent. If you understand the occasion, you will prepare appropriately.

3. Rehearse – Mark Twain once said “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech”. The same applies to debates, and yes, to your business meetings. Think you might get asked a tough question in front of the boss next week? Start prepping answers now. Take out a pad, and make some notes.

4. Eye contact matters – … a lot. 80 percent of our impression of a speaker is non-verbal. Romney wiped the floor with the president at the first debate largely because he looked the president directly in the eye when he challenged him.

5. Voice matters – …a lot. Obama had a tendency to be high-pitched during the first debate, and it played into the next morning’s scathing reviews of his performance.

6. A story is worth a thousand statistics – Romney has an encyclopedic mind for statistics, and stats are an important element of speaking well, but they tend to be subjective. He was at his most effective when he spoke about his time as a missionary in France, or relating stories of the hard-pressed in the midst of our down economy.

7. Watch your tone – This one is tricky, but it’s important to be weary of coming across as too defensive. There were moments where I felt that both candidates were a hair to strident… especially Romney. If you hear yourself accusing either the audience or a colleague or participant, allow for some silence, and re-word your thoughts.

8. There’s always another speech – Everybody has an off-day. You can say what you want about our president, but he doesn’t give in easily. He bombed the first debate, and dusted himself off, and resolved himself to prepare better. You can do the same.

Do you want some help with your presentation style? Contact me for a free, twenty minute in-person consultation.