Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [86]
If you are to speak in the spot, you will have an advance script from which you can memorize your lines or at least familiarize yourself with prompter copy. Proper clothing will be selected in advance. You will be informed ahead of time of your role during the production.
On the day of the shooting, ample time must be allowed to set up the technical gear. Technical people always seem to be readjusting their equipment up to the last minute. You may be surprised at how much gear is required for even a simple shoot.
When all is ready, there will be several rehearsals. Positions and action will be blocked out and synchronized with the sound. Each take will be timed to the second. After a take, if you are informed that it ran too long, it is usually best to edit out some of the copy for the next take rather than speed up your delivery.
Each take will be numbered and evaluated for final editing. When you finally achieve a “keeper,” the producer will probably ask for “just one more” for safety or because hope springs eternal that the next take will be even better.
Some politicians pride themselves on the fact that they can do a spot in one take. They may be the type of person who becomes fatigued and exasperated when there are too many repeats. They may also find it difficult to keep each take fresh and spontaneous.
Whatever your personal preference may be about doing one or many takes, pace yourself for a long haul that may include technical difficulties, frustrating interruptions in an otherwise perfect take, and possibly time-consuming script rewrites.
In the hands of people who know what they are doing and know what the finished spot must look like, the results are most rewarding—and they can help you win an election.
Making a Speech at a Political Convention
When you are chosen to be one of the platform speakers at a political convention, keep in mind that elections can be influenced by “barn-burner” speeches, and that reputations can be made by a superb performance on a podium in the middle of the hurly-burly of the political arena.
Remember New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention? Not only was it called an electrifying speech, but it catapulted him into the national spotlight. And people are still talking about Texas State Treasurer Ann Richard’s keynoter at the 1988 Democratic Convention.
If you are asked to speak at a political convention, don’t be surprised if you are given an outline of various points that the party is suggesting you include in your speech.
Live with the finished speech day and night, so to speak, to familiarize yourself with its basic purpose and the key points. Practice the speech on your tape recorder, decide how you will deliver it, and work on emphasizing the “buzz words.”
Anticipate the places where the audience is likely to applaud, and mark them on your copy of the speech. During the actual presentation, plan to wait until the applause subsides before going on to your next line.
During the speech, expect distracting, constant movement and noise from the floor. This is inevitable, due to wandering technical crews and floor reporters and restless waves of long-suffering delegates.
Also know that you will be televised from a number of angles and that the various images will be projected to the audience in various closeup and long shots.
It is likely that a practice podium identical to the one on stage will be set up backstage at the convention hall. You will probably be given an opportunity to familiarize yourself in advance with the actual stage and podium.
Technicians will point out the positions of the lights, cameras, and double prompters. They will show you where to look and stand and will make adjustments to the height of the podium