For Leaders in Lockdown: Arnie shows how to deliver a script

If you haven’t seen this Arnie movie I recommend it right now.  A seven-minute-long piece to camera, which shows just what can be done with minimum tech and minimum production. At a time when corporate and organisational leaders are looking for ways to connect with their teams via videos or zoom town hall meetings, there are few great lessons we can grab from this.

Ok, I know he is a senior politician and an actor – so he knows a thing or two.  That is why of course, it is a masterpiece.

Here is my list of the transferable highlights:

1. Start with a personal story. If you can include emotion it will make it memorable.
2. Expand the anecdote into the public narrative formula: the story of me, the story of us, the story of now (or our challenge for the future). If you are speech writing it is worth becoming au fait with the public narrative style. It is super simple and effective.
3. Use short sentences. There is barely one example of a sentence more than 16 words in this video.
4. There is absolutely no jargon or difficult language in this. The one German phrase is clearly explained.
5. Paint a picture with your words. (For example ‘pound it with a hammer, heat it in the fire’ – 5 mins, 20 seconds into the video).
6. Use a prop. Conan’s sword (explained here) was a prop that reminded the audience of the politician’s film career but also served as a clever and powerful metaphor.
7. Understand, a good speech is all about emotion.
8. Be prepared to use repetition. It can lift a speech from prose to poetry.
9. End on a positive, forward-looking note.
10. Include a call to action. He asks people to lend support to the president-elect, whatever their political beliefs.

Some other thoughts:

• Arnie is reading a script. A carefully written, fine-tuned, masterpiece of a script.  It is on autocue. Most people cannot read autocue without being trained or training themselves. One of the benefits of short sentences is that they make reading aloud much easier. So the script is written to be spoken, not written to be read. (We teach this.)
• The background is relevant and personal, his study. But it is way too busy and distracting in my view. I prefer a cleaner image.
• I suspect this was not done in one take. You will see that there are what is called in the trade ‘cutaways’. A different view – from the side. Cutaways allow inconspicuous editing, so it’s likely even Arnie had several goes at it. Planning for cutaways makes life much easier for the performer. In this case, the cutaways are very amateur but they still made for easier editing.

If you want to learn to write for autocue or read autocue well, give us a call on +44 (0)20 7099 2212.  We are also helping leaders in lockdown to connect with their Townhall audiences by sharing stories and ad-libbing using a message house. We can teach you how to do this too.

• About
• Latest Posts

Lindsay Williams

Lindsay Williams is the founder and MD of The Media Coach. She has been an expert media trainer, communication coach and consultant since 1998. Lindsay hosts a range of bespoke communication skills courses which include Media Training, Presentation Training, Crisis Media Training and Message Building. Her particular forte is CEO Communication Coaching. Lindsay is the person to hire when you want C-Suite Communication Training.

Lindsay Williams is based in London but runs training sessions in multiple time zones, including the US, Europe, Africa and Asia, working online or travelling to host small and large scale training events. With 20 years of experience as a communications consultant with corporations and international organisations, Lindsay also runs Personal Impact Training and Pitching Via Zoom courses.

Latest posts by Lindsay Williams (see all)

• Why Mick Lynch is Right to be Wary of Pre-recorded Interviews - April 16, 2024
• Takeaways from Netflix Scoop: The Prince Andrew Interview - April 10, 2024
• Kate Shows How to Read Autocue - March 26, 2024