Former president George W. Bush deployed his down-to-earth charm and humor to wow a crowd gathered for a speech in Fort Worth the other day. According to the Washington Post, “Bush did not appear to have an overarching theme, but strung anecdotes and jokes together and frequently mentioned his faith in God.”
No overarching theme? That’s enough to make a speechwriter cringe. But it’s further proof that the messenger often has much more to do with a speech’s success than the quality of the message. Speeches are, when done well, a blend of art, entertainment, and education. And we all know which is the least interesting of those three things.
The highlight of Mr. Bush’s material:
Mindful of his new neighbors, who have had to endure as many as 650 people a day gawking at his new house in a cul-de-sac, Bush said he took Barney for a neighborhood stroll with “plastic bag on his hand” to scoop poop. That was a moment, he said, when he realized “Man, my life has changed!”
And Barack Obama thinks he’s got messes to clean up! Hey-oh!
But even quirkier than the former president’s dog-poo story is the event at which he was speaking. George W. Bush, Colin Powell, and Rudy Giuliani were on a bill that also included Terry Bradshaw (the original ragin’ Cajun) and evangelist Robert Schuller to help people “GET MOTIVATED!”
In addition to the speeches, other motivational techniques included Beach Boys music, flat-screen TV giveaways, and “a stage decorated with red-white-and-blue signs that said ‘Motivate!’ and ‘Achieve!’”
The cost of attendance was $4.95. VIP seating went for $89. A far cry from the fund-raising dinners President Bush headlined while in office.
It’s probably a sign of the times. With the economy still feeling pretty blech, people are looking for a spark to propel them out of the economic doldrums, into a better job, or just into a more optimistic frame of mind.
Whether Terry Bradshaw can do that for you is something you have to look deep within yourself to answer.
A few days before George Bush spoke at the motivational expo, Dick Cheney was delivering another blistering analysis of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. Some people know how to do retirement; others just can’t quite get the hang of it.
