Election TV Debates

Yesterday night the country was treated to a TV debate with all the main political leaders in UK. This is something that amazes, amuses and astonishes the TV audiences.

The set up means that each of the seven speakers have to fight to be noticed and remembered (in a positive way). This is a skill we can learn from and apply to our businesses. How many times are we pitching against other businesses or individuals? If you are in a meeting where everyone else has an agenda, how do we get noticed? In the latest Superstar Podcast, I share top tips on :

• Making yourself heard
• Having a clear message that it understood
• Ensuring you stand out in the crowd
• That you are memorable

Since the readers of this blog are keen to discover my views on the performances last night, here we go – and I promise there is no bias!

• David: looked very ill at ease and nervous. His upper lip became more sweaty as the evening went on. He had worked on a polished performance, focusing on looking at the audience at the beginning then gurning at the TV camera. It didn’t come across authentically.
• Ed: I got more and more scared by his eye balling of the TV camera. The challenge is that there was a live audience AND the TV one and he appeared to totally ignore the former. Like Cameron, he was very polished and came across dodgy.
• Nick: the mojo has gone from this chap. It didn’t help that surveys predict he’ll lose his seat in the election. His heart didn’t appear to be in the debate and I suspect he was thinking about his next job.
• Natalie. Oh Natalie. She looked very ill at ease; her body language was tense and closed and this was reflected in her voice and performance. She is clearly passionate about her party’s policies but she rambled on, with a monotone voice and she lost my attention.
• Nigel: this guy was prepared to stick the boot in and be controversial. This worked at first, but after 10 minutes I felt I was in the pub with the local bore. He came across more “Grumpy Old Man” than potential leader.
• Leanne: a lovely ‘Valley’ girl who is passionate about Wales and her party’s policies. She made the decision to focus on Wales rather than the UK which led to many viewers considering her irrelevant. She looked down at her notes a lot and wasn’t as polished as some of the performers but brava for stepping up.
• Nicola: Brava that lady! I am sure Ed and David didn’t sleep well after her performance. A very confident, clear speaker who won the debate hands down. She made the decision to engage the whole audience, not just Scotland by implying that a vote for the SNP will result in Scotland playing a significant role in the next parliament. Very impressive.

Election TV debates are always fascinating. How do you think it went? I’d love to hear your views.