If you want to answer this question honestly, then you must first put politics aside and take a good hard look at their delivery skills when these two figures stand on a podium and ‘talk’ to the masses. Both are decidedly different in their abilities. From a presentation point of view, which one is better?
1. There is no doubt that President Obama has a better voice. It is smooth, warm and inviting; whereas, Sarah Palin’s voice can be irritating, especially when she increases her volume.
2. Both political figures have charisma. No matter which person you admire, they both possess a magnetism that draws you to them. This is one of the reasons for their popularity (again, whether you agree or disagree with their words or policies is not the issue).
3. President Obama has a gift when it comes to reading a television monitor. This is not easy to do. TV broadcasters also possess this talent. When they are delivering the news, they are actually reading from a screen; but, they don’t sound like they are reading. They sound like they are talking to you and Obama does it extremely well. When he stands at the lectern with his scripted delivery, he renders a thoughtful, prepared and well-rehearsed script.
4. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is better at speaking from her notes when she gives a speech. She acknowledges her audience throughout her delivery by making eye contact with her audience. This isn’t happening when Obama speaks because he is more focused on his script than on his listeners.
5. When it comes to questions, Obama has difficulty because his answers are not prepared in advance and he has a tendency to stammer, which means that his manner of speaking is quite choppy. I find it hard to listen to him when he is in the process of answering questions although I think he is improving in that respect. Palin is much quicker with her responses because she is just plain better at talking.
6. When it comes to speaking with emotion, the former Governor of Alaska is full of passion. She speaks from her heart and in doing so, uses her voice, her facial expression and her body language to aid in her delivery. While our President is more reserved in that respect, I find he tends to speak from his head, although he does display good tonal and facial expressions in his delivery, albeit he is a bit tame.
The real difference between the styles of these two people is that our President is much more mentally-centered; Palin more emotionally-centered. And, public speaking is much more difficult for the mentally-centered individual. This is why he relies on a monitor and also why he holds few press conferences. While the President is very good in his delivery of scripted material, when it comes to dynamic public speaking skills, Sarah Palin is the winner -- politics aside.
