#42

A few days ago, I had another opportunity to hear someone speak that I’ve been curious to hear for a long time: Former President Clinton. And I must say, I was very, very impressed.
Mr. Clinton has his offices just up the street in Harlem, and came to the school to speak during a large gathering promoting public service. Hillary was also here, speaking on a different day, and so was Mayor Bloomberg, but I didn’t get a chance to hear either of them speak.
Bill Clinton is probably the most naturally gifted speaker I’ve ever heard. He strikes the perfect balance between many different aspects of public speaking that are, admittedly, hard to balance. He sounds very smart when he speaks, that he is cultured and knowledgeable about relevant issues, but he never sounds condescending. He’s able to be immediate, to connect with his audience and use language that doesn’t sound snobbish, but he doesn’t do ‘folksy’, the way Bush does. He tells jokes, but he doesn’t deviate too far off topic. And perhaps most impressively of all, he maintains excellent eye contact with his audience. You feel as if you are in a room with him and only a few others, and that you have his full attention. He very rarely looks down at notes, which gives the strong impression that he’s speaking naturally, that he isn’t just reading a prepared speech. I’d always sensed that this would make a huge difference in public speaking, and does it ever.
I came away very impressed by him, and I also realized I think that I have judged him too harshly. People seem (to me) to fall into two camps related to his affair with Lewinsky: those who say it didn’t matter at all, and those who feel it was the only thing that mattered about his presidency. Neither of these are accurate. I myself tended to fall on the later end of the spectrum, and I still do feel a leader is called to set an example, and he set a very poor one in many ways related to that. But he did strike me as someone who does care deeply about this country, about the world, and still very much wants to do some good. I’ve also been inclined not to give credit where it is due related to some of his good policy decisions while in office. So all in all, it truly was a great learning experience.