• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Why is the Queen such a bad public speaker?

gumboot said:
Given she's insanely old, and even older-fashioned, I think our Dear Lady Bess does fine. The reason American leaders are such good public speakers is because they're trying to trick you into voting for them.

Frankly, I'd rather trust a leader who's dull and frank than a charming charismatic one, because the latter is almost certainly trying to sell you something you don't want.
Click to expand...

Right-- so much better when political leaders don't have to worry about earning votes...
 
JamesDillon said:
Right-- so much better when political leaders don't have to worry about earning votes...
Click to expand...


Good political leaders earn your vote through robust policy and a vision for the country's future, not through being charming.
 
Darat said:
Just listened to a snippet of our most successful social security scrounger giving one of her many public speeches.

This woman has probably given more public speeches to more people than anyone in history - and yet her delivery is still absolutely crap! How?!
Click to expand...

Sexual frustration.
 
gumboot said:
Good political leaders earn your vote through robust policy and a vision for the country's future, not through being charming.
Click to expand...

That may be true but I don't see how it's a defense of the Queen. I'd happily take a legitimately elected charlatan over a hereditary head of state of any degree of competence.
 
Speaking as an American I have to say that I like how she speaks. Her job is to be the calm voice of reason. Dull and boring that it may be her style does convey that message.

All of that aside I don't get the hate that some people have for her. She was born into a really crappy job despite the trappings that come with it and she's been at it for what, 60 years now? With no real vacation to speak of (she's always the Queen and she can't get away from that) I wouldn't want that job. That she hasn't let it get to her head and go all screechy is a plus in my book.
 
gumboot said:
Given she's insanely old, and even older-fashioned,

...snip...
Click to expand...

It is not an age related decline so her age is rather irrelevant.

gumboot said:
...snip...

Frankly, I'd rather trust a leader who's dull and frank than a charming charismatic one, because the latter is almost certainly trying to sell you something you don't want.
Click to expand...

That's really a form of ad hom argument isn't it - the "dull and frank" may be wanting to sell you something just as much as the "charismatic one"? But that's getting a tad off topic for this thread which is not about politicians or leaders but someone who remains despite decades of practice a crap public speaker.
 
Darat said:
I think that nails it on the head. Certainly there is no-one to give her good, constructive feedback and even suggest she improves. And it also explains why her eldest son despite being a tad better is also so crap.
Click to expand...

It's not that she is a bad speaker it's that you are a bad audience member. Please up your game and begin enjoying her speeches forthwith. She's the Queen!
 
Last of the Fraggles said:
It's not that she is a bad speaker it's that you are a bad audience member. Please up your game and begin enjoying her speeches forthwith. She's the Queen!
Click to expand...

Well I did think how she explained to her eldest son that he is going to have wait a lot longer was well put - does that count?
 
Darat said:
I think that nails it on the head. Certainly there is no-one to give her good, constructive feedback and even suggest she improves. And it also explains why her eldest son despite being a tad better is also so crap.
Click to expand...

The son is notorious for refusing to listen to any suggestion that he might be wrong about anything.
 
Darat said:
Gumboot said:
Given she's insanely old, and even older-fashioned,
Click to expand...
...snip...
It is not an age related decline so her age is rather irrelevant.
Click to expand...

I don't think that I would dismiss that entirely. I remember reading an article about the evolution of Received Pronunciation English a couple of years ago that mentioned that although (quite literally) the Queen's English has become updated over the decades, when she started queening she had an upper class, old fashioned accent, and that is still the case. So her manner of speaking and delivery is still stuck a couple of decades behind most people who speak regularly in public.

Having said that, it is definitely true that she isn't at risk of getting the sack if her delivery isn't the best, and I'd probably also add that given that under the British system, the monarch is meant to be non-partisan and neutral, and the mode of address sort of goes along with that notion. And people are probably going to miss it once she's gone and her eldest son has the gig instead.

As an Australian, however, I'd still like to be rid of them. But that's another issue entirely.
 
Is the Queen a public speaker? Or is she a public reader of other peoples' words?

"Hi, I'm the Queen of England, and I'll be your presenter tonight. Here's what the major party wrote for me to say to you."
 
She's not a politician and is not trying to debate a point.

She does however, meet a lot of people on a formal and informal basis and presumably has to deal a lot in small talk; perhaps that's her forte.
 
Last edited:
How did she ever get elected with such poor public speaking skills?
 
If you have to make dozens of speeches a year it can't be possible to learn them all off by heart.
Listen to some of the 'old time' Prime Ministers' delivering their speeches, they sound the same.

Modern Politicians have to be showbiz as much as politics, that's why we get 'celebrity' Prime Ministers.
 
Damien Evans said:
She isn't a political leader.
Click to expand...

Gumboot's post was certainly comparing her to one. And regardless of her relative lack of influence in actual policy making, the British government still recognizes her as the nominal head of state, so I don't think "political leader" is entirely inapt.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom