RateItAll: The Opinion Network

One essential part of public speaking is to draw attention and make what you are saying believable,this is the real failure of our President and his body language also betrayed him.

The baffling thing is that he has succeeded in a world where this is an essential element of winning and holding onto the job and he is possibly the worst public speaker in history.

Not exactly high in the running for the "great presidential orators" list.

Another reviewer comments that "he wasn't elected to give speeches." To the contrary, making speeches is an essential part of the job of a head of state. It is the primary means through which he communicates the will of his administration to the populace, and the will of his state to foreign powers. Granted, it is not the sole function he was elected for, but it is a key function.

Perhaps not as eloquent as a professional public speaker, but he gets his message loud and clear. Besides, he was not elected to give speeches.

"Is our children learning?" 'Nuff said.

I'm sure all of us, with the exception of George W. Bush, have perfected the art of public speaking.

edt and I agree on the entertainment value in watching Dubya stumble over his lines. :)

He's competent at absolutely nothing, but at least when he speaks in public, he can be entertaining. Never persuasive or enlightening or inspiring or coherent, but often very entertaining. That's probably the only thing even moderately positive that I'll ever be able to say about him.

David Letterman does Bush justice when he does his segments entitled "Great Speeches In American History"...classic laughers...

In front of a teleprompter, he does decent enough. In unscripted situations, he becomes unclear and less confident. That's why his handlers always make sure that all his public appearances are highly controlled. Interestingly, I notice that in old tapes that Bush was far more articulate and dynamic when he first ran for Governor of Texas in 1994 and even when he ran for President in 2000. Of course, I'd imagine that the stress eventually gets to you. Having chronically low approval ratings also doesn't help your confidence all that much.

His public speaking abilities could definitely use some work.

He is such a good speaker that he needed an earpiece during the '04 debates, so someone could feed responses to him.

Either he has improved somewhat with lots of coaching or Disney has built another robot president-but he still bites a big one.He now gets a two instead of a one.Hey,thats about the ONLY progress we've seen out of this dud.Give thanks!

President Bush is easily the poorest public speaker the White House seen in anyone's memory. I think even conservatives would agree with that statement.

It's hard to be a good public speaker when you're stupid and lie. This guy is sounds like he never finished grade school. The people who believe him are either hillbillies or admire him because a stupid person (like themselves) done went ane become predident.... The comment by 37102002 is great, I live in Calyahfornia where another well spoken person governs.

I think he is more fluent in Spanish than he is in English.

As far as I can see, Bush's public speaking ability pretty much matches the rest of his politics: uneducated, uninformed, and narrow. I admit that the majority of Americans are unable to speak well publically. However, the majority of Americans do not think they can run the country either. I also admit that we all have things we misquote, or just say that sound down right moronic. Of course, most of us don't say them on National Television. However, I see why Bush speaks so poorly. It is hard to speak well when you have nothing worth while to say.

A vocabulary of 200 words does not qualify one to speak publicly. My gosh...the man is supposed to be a Yale graduate. He should be able to opine with the best and the brightest. But...oops...I forgot...he's been pushed through school all of his life (even Yale) and therefore, maybe...just maybe...we shouldn't expect him to have a vocabulary worth anything.

I don't know why this one isn't lowest. Even Bush's supporters admit he is about as eloquent as a leg of lamb...

I think Bush's inability to express himself is a bigger deal than people make it out to be. And I'm not talking about those little Bushisms (e.g. I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family) - I'm a big fan of those things, and wouldn't change them for anything. I'm talking about the inability to articulate and explain complex issues. Case in point: the side by comparison of Bush and Cheney's in the president and vice president debates. Here we have the President of the United States who is unable to explain and defend his foreign policy - a foreign policy that he (supposedly) created! The depth of his shortcomings as a communicator was only highlighted by Cheney's superior command of the issues. So why does this matter? It matters because a huge piece of an elected official's job is explaining and persuading. Whether it be policy, state of the union, or diplomacy - the leader of the most powerful country on earth should be able to articulate and explain his decisions. Is it any wonder that Bush has been less than successful in building alliances? Maybe it's unfair that most claim that Bush doesn't build alliances because he doesn't want to - maybe he DOES want to, but simply isn't able to present compelling arguments. The fact that Bush has a VP that can articulate policy doesn't make it any easier to swallow that our President consistently fails to explain what the heck he's thinking. And Pbeavr's point that Bush is certainly better than (the) average (American) doesn't make me feel any better either. This is the leader of the free world! He should be able speak!

Bush's appeal is to the average American because unlike his past and present opponents he is not a slick pseudo-intellectual who appeals to the Barbara Streisands and the Michael Moores of the world. Bush's great talent is that unlike Gore and Kerry who speak down to the people, he speaks to them. HE speaks as a man of the People not as a man above them. More than any time in history what we need now is a plain speaker, who cuts to the chase, rather than a speaker armed with flowery phrases and an actor's delivery, well intentioned or not. Bush's oratory may not be pleasing to the ear, but it is certainly unpretentious and rings of the truth.

His skills in this area aren't Reaganesque, or Clintonesque. Maybe they're Carteresque, or Johnsonesque, or Trumanesque. But there wasn't much question about terrorism having caught his attention after 9/11/01. Something tells me that all you who criticize him here know pretty much what to expect from four more years of his presidency.

Okay, we all know Bush is a weak public speaker who frequently stumbles, often to comic effect. When Bush speaks publicly, it is so astonishingly bad, it's good! And on those rare occasions when he actually tries to speak off-the-cuff, GOOD GOD, I know I'm in for a treat. Memorable Bush phrases, roughly approximated and thrown out at random: I think if you know what you believe, it makes it a lot easier to answer questions. I can't answer your question.; trying to put food on your family; is our children learning?; mistreatment occured at the uhh...ummm...mistreated...the, the...oh(!)... Abu-GarEFF prison...

Well , he might think that the audience are idiots .. and he is trying hard using his cue cards to reach a point .. but he ends up stuck and almost speechless ... i don't blame him because obviously he lacks the professionalism, the therefore he cannot by any means to persuade a mature human .. and of course a funny impact and makes people wonder is that the person who is actually representing one the biggest countries world wide ?? hell no

Bush has some good qualites...But speaking and charisma are sadly not among them. Laughable. Oh my gosh. He looks like he is in pain (while speaking) and I am sure he is. Not a bad man just really bad at this. I wince when I see him.

It is refreshing to see so many people who think the way I do! Bush is a Horrible public speaker. If I am ever having problems sleeping, I just need to find Bush giving a speech on T.V and it is lights out in 5mins or less.

Public speaking is probably one of his strong features! However, since he regularly butchers the english language, that's not saying much.

Much better over the last few years, still, he studders often and it takes him a while to come up with answers news confrences.

Not everyone can be the perfect public speaker. We've all had that experience- in High School, we've got to get up there and make a speech: our stomach feels like it's about to explode and our hands become sweaty. But usually things turn out alright. However, Bush's public speaking skills are terrible. I'm not asking for another JFK, FDR or TR, but I'm waiting for someone to move me. I'm waiting for someone to be inspirational when they speak. George W. Bush is one of the worst and he gets no rise out of me when he speaks- but at least he's not as bad as his father.

It could use some work.

Yes, I'll admit, I am one of those bleeding heart liberals who honestly does not give a hoot that Bush was a Yale grad. But I know several people who consider themselves conservatives who say that George Bush is a TERRIBLE speaker. We are talking about the man who once said "The government is not the surplus' money, Vice-President." We are talking about the man who said, "The important question is, how many hands have I shaked?" We are talking about the man who said "Families is where the roots of america lie; where wings take dream." We are talking about the man who said, "I'm from the West. The West of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington DC is close to California." Like him or not, you have to admit, he fudges most of his speeches pretty badly. I know he doesn't write his own speeches, but he does SPEAK his own speeches, for God's sake!

Mr. Bush has shown some improvement since the time of his election. Now if only he would speak about the things that matter. THE ECONOMY!

Oh, this is too easy. Come on, this is clearly the worst communicator the White House has ever seen in the age of mass media. His "Bushspeak" is a global joke, celebrated in websites, books, and "A Gaff A Day" day planners and desk calendars. Europe listens to this man and asks what we were smoking when we elected Gore but got Bush:)

Just the ignorant wont listen. He deliberately speeks slow and simple so that more can understand him.

I have to admit, he Bush isn't the best speaker. He tends to make up words, stumble over words he doesn't know the meaning of or repeat himself over and over at news conferences. He seems to be fairly intelligent, but sometimes the guy just tries *too* hard.

So bad its funny. . .I just love watching this guy talk because it gives any intelligent person reason to laugh.

I would say that Bush is one of the WORST major public figures when it comes to speaking extemporaneously, but that only plays into his hands by keeping the Washington Press Corps under-estimating him (or "misunderestimating" I suppose). Because the great secret of the Bush Presidency is that Bush is actually THE greatest president in modern history when it comes to giving a speech of a telestrator. I admire Ronald Reagan as probably the best at making campaign stump speeches -- and Clinton was phenomenally skillful at speaking off the cuff. But GWB has an incredible speech writing team, and understands how to give a formal speech in a way that is 100% presidential and still lets you feel like you're seeing in heart of a very decent, compassionate, and unshakably determined man.

9/11 speech was amazing.

Please please learn to pronounce those words properly. Remember everytime he speaks not only does he represent the Office of the President but the Entire United States.

NEEDS A LOST OF WORK

Most high school students could deliver a prepared speach better.

The man can't speak on his own. The only time he doesn't make huge mistakes on the fly is if he repeats things he's said in the past, and even then he sometimes does. The user "anmalone" giving him 5 stars is a good illustration of the intellect of Bush's most staunch supporters.

From the beginning he has given good speeches when reading from a teleprompter. His impromptu speaking used to be the worst I've ever heard from a politician, but it has gotten better. Still bad, though.

How can anyone give him above a two for this one. He makes up words, he can't talk without a script, constantly bungles his lines. There have been books written about all of the stupid things he has said.

I wouldn't call it "speaking" exactly -- more like semi-incoherent mumbling in a language that occasionaly sounds somewhat similar to English. However, he does do a lot of whatever-it-is in public, so that part of the question is pertinent.

Embarrassing!

Good at reading a script; laughably awful when speaking his *own* mind.

Plain spoken, honorable and honest.