I hear you

_Source

I'm not too knowledgeable about American politics or any other country for that matter. So please do not take this as a political stance or opinion but I loved listening to Barack Obama. He spoke at the memorial service of Nelson Mandela on 10 December 2013 in my country and was one of many international leaders who spoke there. I was amazed at the difference between him and all the others. Political leaders seem to think it is unimportant how well they speak. They seem to think we will listen no matter how badly they present their point.

Or maybe it is something else. In my country, we have 11 official languages. None of our political leaders speaks English as a first language. They all, for the last 70 years at least, cannot speak English well but they make all their speeches in English. The content is vague and confusing and the language stilted. Even the cadence with which they speak makes it difficult to listen. It is as if they do not want anyone to listen. Or as if they think no one is listening. Or that what they are saying is of no importance at all.

The pattern then, that seems to be without exception, is that some journalist then grabs a sentence or even just a fragment of a sentence and shout it to the world. It then sounds as if the politician had something of consequence to say and that he or she said it well. However, the journalist's version often does not reflect accurately the message of the speech making the true message even more confusing to discern.

• Why would anyone choose politics as a career and refrain from developing good communication skills?
• Why would someone with an important message leave it in the hands of a sensation-seeking journalist to communicate it to his constituents?
• How hard must someone practice to become so vague and confusing?
• How much effort does it take to speak for an hour without actually saying anything?

Barack Obama is the only politician I have ever heard speak, that did it well. How on earth can that be?

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It is fun pointing fingers at politicians, is it not? But before you have too much fun, I want to ask you a question.

Which skills do you require to do your job well? Is there any of those skills that you can improve in?

I hope you are not like all those bumbling, stuttering politicians who cannot actually do well one of the more important things they need to do. You are not born with skills. You learn skills. Then you practice them until you are proficient. And then you practice them until you are really great at them.

Don't be a politician. Be great at your job.

And do something this week that will help you be even better at it next week.

@reonlouw

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