American Chairman and CEO of Decker Communications, Bert Decker, has published a Top 10 List of the Best (& Worst) Communicators of 2008 on his blog. There are the usual suspects as well as one or two surprises. The list predominantly focuses on U.S. politicians with some celebrities on there too.
The names that I recognise and have seen on T.V. or the ‘net I agree with; i.e.; Barack Obama, George Bush and John McCain.
I’d be interested to see such a list including speakers from other countries too. Off the top of my head I’d probably add British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to the worst list. For me he hasn’t hit the heights of communication that former P.M. Tony Blair did (although, to be fair, towards the end of his time I felt he probably descended into the worst category too).
I would have to add Conservative Leader David Cameron to the Worst List. The Conservatives began using phrases like now for change attempting to echo Obama’s campaign message. There was also a difrect lift of “yes we can” by a British politician days after Obama’s win, but I forget who the culprit was now.I’d proably put him on the best too, as he did deliver some good speeches last year as he fought to emulate Tony Blair’s skill.
For some reason our politicians of late don’t seem to have been great communicators and as a result I don’t feel that they’ve showed great leadership either. Anyone whose been to Toastmasters knows that communication and leadership go hand in hand. One only needs to look back to Sir Winston Churchill for evidence of strong leadership and communication skills.
I’d also like to throw in a curve ball to the best of list – Gary Vaynerchuk. He’s the host of the video blog Wine Library TV. This was something that my financee and I have got into over the Christmas break as we explore our mutual love of wines. What better way to to do that than by watching someone who’s really passionate about his subject? Not only that but I’ve just seen him deliver a 15 minute speech on You Tube, which I thought was great. For pure passion, energy and talking from the gut I thought he did a top-notch job. I’m going to do a separate on on Gary soon.
Who would you add to this list? Who, in your opinion, was amongst the best and worst communicators of 2008? Where did you seem them? Did you see them live, on TV or on the ‘net?
