Bill Clinton is easily one of the most engaging and charismatic speakers of our generation. But have you ever stopped to consider what makes his speaking so effective?
In this week’s tour guide training, we break down some of Bill’s techniques using video footage from one of his ‘re-elect Obama’ speeches. This particular speech is regarded as one of Clinton’s finest and has been analyzed on a number of other blogs online (@TimFerriss)
But today we hone in on how the former president’s techniques can be applied to our jobs as tour leaders, tour managers and tour guides. Watch my video first and I will give you four things to look for as you analyze the Bill Clinton clip below.
You may be surprised at some of the ways this powerful politician can keep an audience energized, engaged and hanging off of his every word!
Once you’re ready, click here to see the full Bill Clinton speech (but beware: the full clip is 49 minutes long!) Even if you only watch a few sections of this speech, you will find plenty of fantastic examples of how you can take your speaking to the next level.
-Kelsey T
Finished Watching?
Did you notice any other techniques that Bill Clinton uses to keep the audience engaged? How can we as tour guides modify our speaking to emulate the former president?
As always, share this video if you’re inspired and subscribe after the video to join the community!
Transcript:
Hi, and welcome to “The Tour Guide TV.” I’m Kelsey. And here we do world-class training for world-class tour guides. Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and what he can teach us about being great tour guides.
Now, I’m not talking about the time when you may have accidentally, you know, hooked up with somebody on a tour, kind of super inappropriately, I’m afraid you’re on your own for that. And I’m not too sure that Bill has the best advice on that either.
“Yeah. It depends upon what the meaning of the word is. Yes.”
What? Let’s stay focused. Personal shenanigans from a long time ago aside, there’s pretty much a universal consensus that Bill Clinton is one of the most powerful, likeable, and charismatic public speakers of our generation.
So, let’s take a moment to appreciate exactly what Bill Clinton does while he’s speaking. I’m going to put a link below to a speech from 2012. This was in Charlotte when he was trying to get Obama reelected.
Now, this clip has been widely analyzed and is lauded as one of his better performances during that whole campaign, and really one of his best speeches in the last five or six years.
I first saw this analyzed in the blog of Tim Ferris, but you can find all kinds of Bill Clinton analyses on the web. I’m going to give you four things to look for, and techniques that we can watch for.
Clinton is a master of making you feel like you’re the only one in the room when he’s talking just you and the audience, as if two good friends, a more casual type of speech.
He uses personal stories, and intimate observations to build a case instead of using rigid logic and argumentation like you would in a courtroom. What can we learn? Use Clinton as short informal phrases to make your speaking more natural and as if to friends.
Some examples might include… Now, I’ll tell you another thing. Boy, now waits, I know what you’re all thinking.
Two, adlib and go off-script. Bill Clinton in his speech below, you’ll notice many times he seems to walk away from the teleprompters and goes adlibbing.
Actually, later on, when journalists got their hands on the actual script, they saw that over 15% of the speech was made up on the spot by Bill Clinton responding to his audience.
The takeaway – he used the feeling of a canned or a memorized speech by referencing people’s names, knowing their interests, and maybe having a reoccurring joke that comes back over the course of the tour.
Three, pacing. Notice how Bill Clinton will speed up or slow down to suit his needs. No fear of dead air. He’ll add emphasis to a line like this.
This is one of my favorite. “Now, listen to me, no one, and I mean no one, not me, not any of my predecessors could have repaired or stopped the economic damage done.” Analyze the pacing of your speech or tour, and see where it makes sense to speed up or slow down.
Maybe slowing at a sad or tragic part, and where can you build some excitement and enthusiasm by talking a little bit quicker and getting a little more animated.
And lastly, body language. Even if you only watch a few minutes of the below video, you’re going to see how Bill Clinton uses his whole body to get his message across.
Here are some examples to watch for and my favorite. He bites his lip in frustration. And the line, I think he says, “But they refused to compromise…” He is a lip-biter.
Watch for it, what can we learn? Tell stories with your full body and use rich facial expressions.
So, if you’re ready to watch the master in action, click the link below. But beware, the full clip is about 49 minutes long. Remember, we don’t want to mimic Bill Clinton’s style, but we can certainly emulate the things he did, the things he do.
And what he do? Well, he do personalization. He does adlibbing, just like we did right there. He also does body language very well and pacing. So, that’s all for today.
But after you have a look at that video, come on back and let me know in the comments what you saw, and what can we learn from Bill Clinton. And, of course, if you like the content, subscribe below.
Thanks for being here. I’ll see you next time.
