Britain’s new Labour Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, has many talents.
But it’s fair to say he’s not what you might call “an electrifying communicator”.
His communication style is better described as solid, organised and thoughtful.
He comes across less as a rock star…
And more with the image of a competent suburban accountant…
But Sir Keir has certainly become an EFFECTIVE communicator.
At the start of his time at 10 Downing Street, Sir Keir is seeking to provide a contrast to what his Labour Party portrays as the chaotic approach to the leadership communication of his immediate prime ministerial predecessors.
Fairly or otherwise, the following image is how Labour likes to project the collective style of the array of previous Conservative Party Prime Ministers…David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.
But despite what’s come before Sir Keir’s arrival in Downing Street, it’s pretty hard to win a landslide in a British General Election of the magnitude that Labour has just achieved without having some communication abilities.
Sir Keir has shown that while he’s not a natural communicator for the modern age, he is a good learner.
He comes across as being well-organised and able to keep calm under pressure.
This makes him worth studying.
His calm smooth start to his prime ministership – off the back of a frantically busy election campaign schedule and, presumably, remarkably little sleep – means he’s well worth watching.
At this early stage, Sir Keir is showing himself to be a potential communication role model for those contemplating stepping up to a new bigger leadership role.
He has demonstrated that becoming a more effective communicator is a learnable skill.
So it’s worth taking a look at the speech he made at the start of his first prime ministerial press conference – and the answers which follow.
If you’re ever in the situation of needing to hold a press conference, it’s always good to make a statement at the head of it.
Some press conferences go straight to questions from the media.
However, doing this without an opening statement to set the scene before the questions is a risky approach.
Making a statement at the beginning of his first Downing Street press conference gave a sense of direction to Sir Keir’s event.
His opening speech is just under six minutes.
The question and answer section starts at 5 minutes and 48 seconds.
Be aware that early in the Q and A section there is a very brief loss of sound.
You can study the speech, the questions and the answers by clicking on the image here:
You can check out getting guidance on presentation skills – for you or your team – at:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/presenting-with-confidence-impact-and-pizzazz/
There’s information on Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions at:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/give-great-answers-to-tough-questions/
The good news about your presenting – and your approach to giving great answers to questions – is that you can choose the image you’re seeking to portray.
So you don’t have to have the communications image of either a rock star or a suburban accountant.
You don’t need to copy the image of this new British Prime Minister.
You can choose your own image that best suits you and your situation.
And you can choose to be the best version of yourself – as we set about turning this image into reality!