The Kamala Harris Speech Problem

2024-08-04 · Ho Chanh Nghia

Originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kamala-harris-speech-problem-khanh-pham-rhylc/

The Kamala Harris Speech Problem

Several occasions now where the Vice President of the USA was tongue-tied, and people love making sure that it is seen in the worst of light. As in she’s a complete airhead with nothing going on inside. I believe she may have a simple problem that can be fixed with a simple strategy/tactic vs more education.

During the first 10 projects in Toastmasters International to develop an orator, it tasked the speakers with various purposes. Such as icebreakers, inform, humor, storytelling, etc. One of the types of speech that it does not work on is how to lie to the world.

I believe she is pretending to be something she’s not, and was using words that are not her. She’s also trying to lie to people using fancy words. So in the process stumbles on her own words as they are not organized. Then she ends up talking in circles around her own words. And it makes her look like an idiot because it does look that way.

For example, one of my similar failures was during a senator staff briefing. I was the supervisor for the satellite operations when the senator’s staff was going on a tour to see what we do at the Air Force Technical Application Center. We have a slide showing how a nuclear explosion would look to the eyes in the sky. I wanted to emphasize that the image is actually not a real truth, but interpolated data using past known explosions. Basically it was a guess of what it looks like. We have yet to confirm what it looks like to a satellite. And how did I screw this up? I said the data were from Interpol. No one asked any questions, but they complained to my boss I was smoking crack, and the random drug test was randomly asking me to pee in a cup for weeks. When you’re using words that are not yours, it adds more difficulty. Versus being yourself and using your language. Even at the international stage, Trump uses his natural communication style. As much as the world lambasts him for being the male bigot, he communicates in his own voice, vocabulary, and style. While Kamala Harris is trying to be I do not know what.

The solution? Simply view the world as a bag of potatoes and speak to the potatoes. Potatoes are less likely to intimidate you. Trump sort of views the world as idiots, and it is working out well for his public speeches. Most of the population qualifies as idiots, so it is not a stretch to see them as such. If we use the bell curve, 80% of the population is average. and the average American is reading at the 5th grade - 7th grade level. They do not need fancy words and sentences. I imagine that if Kamala Harris decided to use her daily colloquial style, she would fare much better than the last few speeches. As far as lying to people, either you’re good like Hillary Clinton, or you just shoot straight and not look like an idiot trying to lie and failing 100% in even making a complete thought.

I have noted many English speakers are overreaching with so-called high-class words, and it just makes their weak communication even weaker. Worse, rendering a message incomprehensible. While broken English or simple English would have served as a better tool. Speak to people you do not have to impress, or try not to impress people and your speech will be a lot smoother. So to some extent, it is similar to lying. lying about who you are and what you are. And failing. When you are honest it is just easier to get your job done. Do not have to worry about things that are beyond your reach.

Another thing with new people who are exposed to top secret information. They get all scared about talking about anything. So they can’t say anything, and end up not speaking at all. That problem requires a few years of education to understand the applicable laws before you can have the confidence to say what is legal and what is not.