Depending on which party you prefer, speeches during the Democratic and Republican conventions are either dazzling or disgusting. But politics aside, I find many of them illuminating and worth study because they are often written by the best speech writers in the business.

Supposedly, Michelle Obama wrote her own speech delivered Tuesday night at the Democratic convention. Even so, I’m sure there was plenty of input from the professionals. Two things in that speech stood out for me, lessons that I try to emulate myself as well as convey to my clients: using concrete examples and telling anecdotes.

Rather than just claiming Barack helped people on the streets of Chicago, Michelle made it come alive with specifics, “setting up job training to get people back to work and after school programs to keep kids safe — working block by block to help people lift up their families.”

She didn’t just speak in generalities about the spirit of people in America, but instead talked about “People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift — without disappointment, without regret — that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they’re working for. The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.”

Obama personalized the speech and told brief anecdotes about her father who had muscular dystrophy as well as remembering the first speech she heard Barack give.

On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton gave what was probably one of the most difficult speeches of her career, trying to assuage those who voted for while satisfying everyone else that she showed enough support for Obama. Again, politics aside, I think it was a well-written speech with specifics, anecdotes, humor and interesting uses of language.

For me, the Harriet Tubman story about helping slaves on the underground railroad was very effective, especially because of its repeated phrase: keep going, keep going, keep going.

Another well constructed part of speech used the repetition of “more” and “less:”

“But we don’t need four more years … of the last eight years. More economic stagnation … and less affordable health care. More high gas prices … and less alternative energy. More jobs getting shipped overseas … and fewer jobs created here. More skyrocketing debt … home foreclosures … and mounting bills that are crushing our middle class families. More war … less diplomacy. More of a government where the privileged come first … and everyone else comes last.”

A couple of clever things I also liked: the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits and the play on the Republicans’ convention site: “With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.”

And then the best line in the speech: “I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?”

Of course we all know that delivery is a critical piece of any speech. I thought both women did well, using gestures, inflection and pausing. Without actually witnessing it ourselves, we can’t imagine what it’s like to speak to an audience of 20,000. You could tell by the way Hillary carried herself on the stage that she was the most experienced at speaking to large audiences.

Can’t wait to hear Bill Clinton and then the Republicans.

Many analysts are saying Maple Leaf Foods of Canada has done a good job of responding to a deadly outbreak of listeria bacteria linked to its products, one even comparing it to Johnson and Johnson’s response to the Tylenol crisis.

At least four people have died and dozens of others have gotten sick. The company did the right thing by voluntarily expanding the recall from two types of cold cuts to include 220 products made in its Toronto plant. In addition, the CEO Michael McCain, stepped forward with a candid and sincere apology in newspapers and TV. (However, he could have been coached on how to be less stiff and wooden while reading the TelePrompter.)

“We have an unwavering commitment to keeping your food safe with standards well beyond regulatory requirements, but this week our best efforts failed and we are deeply sorry,” McCain said. “Tragically our products have been linked to illnesses and loss of life. To those families, I offer my deepest sympathies.”

At a news conference, McCain adroitly pushed aside questions about monetary concerns. “This isn’t about money. It is about public health and that is why we have expanded our recall … the last people I am listening to are lawyers and accountants.”

Unfortunately the accountants, or at least Maple Leaf Foods CFO, wasn’t listening to McCain. Here’s what Michael Vels was telling analysts. “Maple Leaf products have not been directly linked to illness and death.”

In another part of his statement, Vels expressed a positive company message, but buried it inside overwhelmingly negative language. “Damage control and financial minimization at a time like this has not even been considered,” he said. “Certainly as an investor that may not be what you want to hear, but 100 percent of our actions and focus over the weekend has been to notify consumers and ensure our products are returned.”

Geez, get the guy media training or rein him in!

I don’t think many of us (myself included) really understand how much the media landscape has changed and just how quickly news—especially bad—takes on a life of its own. Two positive PR responses to this new media stand out from the last couple of weeks.

First is Circuit City’s recovery from its first reaction to a spoof of the company in Mad Magazine called “Sucker City”. A Circuit City operations employee (who knows what that means or how far up he/she is in the organization) saw the parody, didn’t get the joke, and ordered Mad removed from any stores that carried it.

Obviously, the PR person wasn’t in the loop (which shows an organizational “need for improvement”) because any savvy professional would understand that the employee’s action would just fuel the fire—which of course it did.

The destructive overreaction did just the opposite of what the employee wanted. It increased exposure of the parody on the internet — to Mad Magazine’s glee. Finally the PR guy, Jim Babb, found out what was going on and came up with the perfect response. He sent an apology letter—with his own dose of humor—to the Mad folks. An excerpt:

• “As a gesture of our apology and deep respect for the folks at MAD Magazine, we are creating a cross-departmental task force to study the importance of humor in the corporate workplace and expect the resulting Powerpoint presentation to top out at least 300 pages, chock full of charts, graphs and company action plans. In addition, I have offered to send the MAD Magazine Editor a $20.00 Circuit City Gift Card, toward the purchase of a Nintendo Wii….if he can find one!”

Issue defused, case closed (except for us PR watchers).

Meanwhile, Netflix experienced a major “technology glitch.” For three long days it couldn’t ship DVDs to its subscribers. But rather than reacting like Circuit City, Netflix got ahead of the looming crisis by posting an apology on its website and sending customers emails so they found out about the problem first from the company rather than through some website.

The icing on the cake: a 15% discount on their monthly bill for those affected by the problem. The result: Netflix’s stock actually went up!

It’s nice to end the week on a happy note…

John Edwards attributed his affair with Rielle Hunter to feelings of being special. During the heady days of campaigning he said he “became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic.” (That sounds like a good reason for the $200 haircut, too.)

I guess he also became really forgetful and stupid. After all, this is the man who in 1999 said about Bill Clinton, “He has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen.”

Obviously, Edwards, like Clinton thought he would never get caught. But Clinton strayed in a different time. In these days of cell phone cameras around every corner and paparazzi hiding behind every bush, it’s very unlikely that someone running for President of the United States can get away with jaywalking, let alone having an affair.

In that respect, Edwards’ dalliance is breathtakingly arrogant (not to mention callous toward his wife who, at the time, was in remission from breast cancer). It’s the old “it will never happen to me” even though it’s been the downfall of dozens of politicians before him.

Making matters worse is Edwards’ breaking every PR rule with his constant denial of the affair after it was revealed by the National Enquirer. Apparently he still thought he could get away with it!

And now it’s come to a very predictable conclusion: the humble mea culpa on national television and another disgraced official who is political dead meat. As Joanne Ciulla, an ethics expert at the University of Richmond told USA Today, “Americans can put up with infidelity, but hypocrisy is a career-ender.”

In August, 2007, Bob Murray wouldn’t shut up. Now, a year later, on the anniversary of the catastrophic collapse of his Crandall Canyon mine, when we’d really like to hear from him, he’s not talking.

Hours after six of his miners were trapped underground (and ultimately killed), Mr. Blame and Bluster passed the buck by claiming an earthquake caused the massive cave-in, despite the fact that seismologists found no evidence of a quake. When reporters asked tough questions, he accused them of being lackeys for the United Mine Workers. Finally, someone got the hook, and since then, not a peep out of him.

Now we know why. The results of the investigation aren’t pretty. Federal officials said there was no other mining disaster in the last 50 years to compare to the one at Crandall Canyon. The Mine Safety and Health Administration said the mine was “destined to fail” because of a risky plan. MSHA itself was faulted for its lack of oversight before the collapse and for its poor handling afterwards of a rescue operation that killed three rescuers.

In an editorial today entitled Greed Above, Death Below, the New York Times called for a criminal inquiry into the disaster because mine operators blatantly ignored and concealed danger warnings before the collapse, and because they mined beyond safety limits.

Too late, though, for the nine men killed because of a company’s greed and a regulator who looked the other way. Last August when he was pointing fingers at everyone but himself, Bob Murray had to know what really caused the disaster. No wonder he’s not talking.

In an effort to boost advertising revenue, Meredith Corporation has crossed a line that could destroy what little credibility local news has left. I’m talking about product placements during newscasts at KVVU in Las Vegas. Anchors on the morning show sit with cups of McDonald’s iced coffee on their desks during the news and lifestyle portion of the show. Other Meredith stations are doing the same thing.

This is anathema to any true journalist. The strict line between news and advertising is a long-honored tradition. When I worked at KPNX channel 12 in Phoenix, the line was also physical. The news department was upstairs, advertising downstairs.

One day the line was tested. Our investigative reporter planned to air a segment critical of the repair shop at one of the city’s largest car dealerships. The station’s rep for the dealership made the long trip upstairs. He asked the news director to kill the segment because his client had threatened to cancel its hefty advertising contract. The news director refused. That day we all felt proud to be in journalism.

The people at KVVU can’t be feeling proud of their profession these days. The news director at the station was put on the spot when he had to justify his company’s actions in an interview with the New York Times. “There was a healthy dose of skepticism, and I’m please there was—it means they’re being journalists,” said Adam Bradshaw.

Except that now they don’t feel so much like journalists and neither does he. They know like the rest of us that they’ve crossed a sacred line and beyond it lies a very slippery slope. If you can have cups of McDonald’s iced coffee on your desk during the news, it’s not much of a stretch to have sponsored newscast segments with the anchors touting their favorite restaurants or movies.

The result: Audiences don’t trust the news so TV stations don’t get the viewership they need to stay alive. Everyone loses.

In a random search of press releases, here are some award-winners this week:

Most unnecessary press release

Knight Energy Corp. Subsidiary Purchases Two Drilling Rigs

Longest opening paragraph I can’t translate into English

SALT LAKE CITY, July 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Cimetrix, Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board: CMXX), a leading provider of factory automation software and solutions for the global semiconductor industry, announced today the availability of a new and innovative tool control solution — CIMControlFramework(TM). CIMControlFramework is the result of a joint development project between Cimetrix and semiconductor equipment leader, Axcelis Technologies, to define, build, and deploy a next generation tool control framework. The new software addresses the increasing demand for more efficient 300mm substrate handling and factory automation at the tool level as well as the need for more and better quality data. These objectives are currently the focal point of such semiconductor industry initiatives as 300mm Prime, Engineering Equipment Capabilities (EEC), Predictive and Preventive Maintenance (PPM) and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Combined with the domain expertise of the new Cluster Tool Control Practice within the Company’s Global Services department, Cimetrix now offers a complete tool control solution.

Longest quote

“We have high expectations that our agreement with Microsoft on the licensing of its IP related to digital camera calibration technology will prove to be of great use to us in developing our image-processing business,” said Masakatsu Makino, president of FAST.
“FAST is a specialist image-processing technology company that develops, manufactures and sells image-processing software, devices and systems,” Makino said. “The IP licensed from Microsoft is outstanding camera calibration technology for 3-D measurement and inspection systems utilizing 3-D measurement in production environments in which high practical precision and simple camera calibration operation processes are required. We plan to roll out distinctive image-processing products in the near future that incorporate this technology. As a company developing advanced technology to meet customer needs, we feel that Microsoft’s technology will bring many benefits.”
“As its licensing of this technology demonstrates, Microsoft is implementing a policy of providing a broad range of industries with access to its technology with the aim of contributing to the advance and growth of other industries and their technology,” Makino said. “We take our hats off to Microsoft for this admirable policy.”

Longest quote that is at least somewhat understandable

“Snipitron is a Social Research platform to promote learning, sharing and creativity among global users. It brings together web content, streaming media, well-formed documentation, and analysis into a single location that can be easily accessed and distributed as well as providing a set of tools for keeping this information organized, stored, and delivered,” said Ryan Rouland, a Principal at Snipitron LLC. “With virtually endless market verticals for Snipitron, the use of this program for collaborative sharing is endless. So many people use computers for doing research — consumers shopping for the best coat, students and authors collaborating and conducting research for a book report, PR pros who want to share files with the press, real estate brokers who want to promote listings, fitness gurus who want to share diet and training information, attorneys who want to aggregate and share confidential research and information with clients and other groups. Snipitron allows them to access files from a single point, send MLS listings to a client interested in buying a home, newsletters blasted to customers, assign projects, or share photos with friends. Anyone can use this but it was primarily geared to the professional looking to make their business lives easier and more productive.”

Quote with most unnecessary big words

“LandAmerica management in this market is innovatively improving our service capabilities while reducing reliance on fixed-cost physical locations,” said Chandler. “We will evaluate the performance of the Colorado initiative to determine its applicability to additional markets in the future. There are features of this approach that may well be appropriate for other markets and may facilitate further office consolidations over time. Our ultimate objective is to intelligently eliminate costs and improve service levels at the same time.”

Quote with most gobbledygook

“RTS is pleased to once again be an early adopter of a new milestone of
the NYSE Euronext(TM) Technology Roadmap. The LIFFE CONNECT(R) services complement our existing European Cash Markets 100 MMBA Solution and leverage the low latency, high bandwidth needs of our clients who adopt our hosting solutions for global derivatives and cash markets. With easy access points for traders in Frankfurt and London, as well as Chicago, we are able to offer our clients speed of access to market and quick deployment of their algorithmic trading solutions,” said Mirjana Zuro, Vice President Business Development.

Longest disclaimer in relation to the press release

Solera National Bank Announces Launch of Remote Deposit Capture

Best Headline

www.ChangeTheWayWeGo.com Ends Battles in the Bathroom

Best Quote

“The iPhone has done more to change the way we think about mobile interactive than any other individual device in history,” said Warren Tomlin, Chief Creative Officer of Fuel Industries. “For us to wait and see with this device would be to put us in the same league with companies who waited around for the internet to catch on.”

Best opening paragraph

HENNEPIN, Ill., July 11 /PRNewswire/ — Caution! If read in its entirety, “Why Do Drugs Cost So Much? and why are we so darn sick? (published by AuthorHouse — http://www.authorhouse.com) may cause the following side effects: surprise, anger, disbelief and even amusement.

Best headline with opening paragraph

See What Happens When ‘What If’ Meets ‘Why Not’ 

SILVER SPRING, Md., July 10 /PRNewswire/ — You’ve heard the dire warning; you’ve seen the detailed PowerPoint; you’ve even bought that light bulb with the swirls, but how about some real action? Now the world’s leading scientists meet three uncompromising visionaries to put the most ambitious geo-engineering ideas to the test, tackling global climate change in DISCOVERY PROJECT EARTH premiering Friday, August 22 at 9 pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel.

So many of us think “it won’t happen to me.” Maybe it’s a survival instinct—If we admitted just how vulnerable we are in the world, we’d never leave the house.

Take Jesse Jackson. He knows how many high profile people have been burned by open mics they didn’t think were open. Yet there he was, lavaliere on his lapel, sitting in front of a camera, dissing Barack Obama.

And no, Jesse, whispering doesn’t make it any better.

Even his fellow guest on Fox News, Reed Tuckson, whom Jackson was complaining to about Obama, knew enough not to say anything back. And he has a lot less experience in front of a camera than Jesse.

It’s not just open mics we have to be careful of. Anything you say within earshot of a reporter is fair game, whether in an interview, at a trade show, on an elevator, or at the airport.

And yes, it can happen to you.

You know the old saying “actions speak louder than words?” Action: The Prime Minister of Great Britain ate an eight course dinner at the G8 summit in Japan. Words: Just before that he had issued a statement urging the world to reduce the unnecessary demand for food, and calling on the British to cut back on food waste.

Actually, it wasn’t just the Prime Minister who ate the lavish dinner—and the working lunch earlier that day with six courses. All the leaders were there, including George Bush, but Gordon Brown is taking the heat because of his untimely proclamation about food hours before stuffing himself.

Even worse, the world leaders had just held discussions about the food crisis with the heads of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal— but they weren’t invited to the dinner.

Who counsels these people? It’s understandable that the Japanese Prime Minister would want to show what a gracious host he could be. And it would be rude for the leaders not to accept his hospitality. But does anyone planning these events in eight powerful countries think how this will look to the rest of the planet?

They’re talking about a food crisis while eating caviar, Kyoto beef and smoked salmon. Meanwhile millions of people are starving. Never underestimate how hypocritical politicians can be.

Every day in boardrooms and conference centers across the country, thousands of people are acting out a charade they rarely talk about. Speakers deliver PowerPoint presentations, pretending that their audiences understand and enjoy them. Meanwhile, those watching the presentations play their own parts, pretending to pay attention, to comprehend, and to care.

Maybe it’s time to finally admit what almost everyone knows: the emperor has no clothes! The majority of PowerPoint presentations are boring and unintelligible. Very seldom do they promote any kind of understanding and ultimately, learning.

Then why do so many smart people continue to play the game, knowing that for both presenters and listeners, it’s a waste of time? They do it because everyone else does it that way, it’s always been done that way, because that’s the way their company or organization expects it to be done, and especially because to change will take more time and effort.

Ban Bullet Points

The main problem with boring PowerPoint presentations is bullet points; slide after slide filled with bullets, sub-bullet points, and sub-sub-bullet points. Unfortunately, PowerPoint (and Keynote) templates encourage that mind-numbing format by leaving placeholders for titles and bullets.

According to the findings of John Sweller at the University of New South Wales, Australia, people cannot read and listen well at the same time. He calls it the cognitive load theory.

“It is effective to speak to a diagram or chart, because it presents information in a different form,” Sweller told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007. “But it is not effective to speak the same words that are written, because it is putting too much load on the mind and decreases your ability to understand what is being presented.”

Ditch the Data Dump

Richard Mayer, an educational psychology professor and researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, reports similar findings. Our working memory (or short-term memory), the part of the mind focused on a presentation, briefly holds information while working to integrate it into long-term memory. But working memory is limited and can only absorb information in small chunks.

Unfortunately, the average PowerPoint presentation dumps huge amounts of data in a short period of time, assuming that once that information is sent, the listener will receive and remember it intact. But delivering a presentation that way is like sending a fire hose full of water to an audience that has the capacity to drink only drops at a time.

Create Three Presentations in One

So how do we make our presentations more interesting, understandable and effective? First, think of your PowerPoint as an audiovisual aid, not an audiovisual crutch. The slides aren’t there for your benefit, to help you remember your presentation. Instead, they should help guide the audience by supporting visually what you are saying orally.

Ideally, a presentation will have three different parts. First are the slides that the audience sees, containing visuals and as few words as possible. These slides should never be able to stand alone. If they do, there’s no reason for you to be there. Instead, just mail it in.

The second part is the notes that only you will see. This is where you list the points you want to make and supporting information, the stuff that used to be in your bullet points. You can have the notes in front of you while you deliver the presentation.

Third is the written handout you give to the audience. This can include the main points as well as more in-depth information and back-up data that is too detailed and complicated to include in your presentation.

Stop Making “Slideuments”

The only way to improve PowerPoint presentations is to stop creating what Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen, calls a “slideument,” a combination slide and document. To save time, people want to plan their presentation so it can serve as both projected visuals and stand-alone handouts. That way they can kill two birds with one stone. But as Reynolds says, the only thing “killed” is effective communication. You end up with a bad slide and a bad document.

It’s difficult to fight this disfunctional culture of PowerPoint. It’s engrained in our workplaces, our churches, our schools. But I sense the movement for change picking up steam. You have a choice: continue to feed the problem with PowerPoints that don’t do anything but bore the audience; or work to change the way things have always been done by creating presentations that engage, enlighten and entertain.