The Coach's Mailbag by Steve Adubato, Ph.D.

Two weeks ago, I critiqued President Bush's State of the Union speech. This week, lots of readers critiqued that column as well as the President's speech;

Sharon Petrucelli thought I was being unfair to the President when I said his habit of pronouncing the word nuclear as 'nucular' was a problem. "Steve, I thought President Bush's speech was just great! He gives me confidence in our country's ability to win this war on terrorism, protect our homeland and revive the economy. And don't you ever mispronounce a word?"

You're right, Sharon, I have. Point well taken. Then again, I'm not the President of the United States.

Walt MacFarlane agreed with Sharon; "I, too, have heard the President fracture the language on occasion, however, I like the guy. I have also heard criticism about his use of too many 'I's' instead of 'We's' in the speech. But, I sincerely believe that he means he's not going to back off on his vow to bring the bad guys to justice..."

Claire Edelman of Monroe Township saw it this way. "I agree with you, Steve, the speech was too long. Thirty to forty minutes would have been just right, with 3 bullet points as you suggested...but please, can't someone help him with the word nuclear? It's like chalk scraping on the blackboard...you too?"

Yes, Claire, this bothers me. Then again, I could just be a communication snob.

Speaking of bullet points, listen to Ellis Jacob; "Although the President has improved dramatically in his public speaking since September 11, it's quite obvious to me that he's very well coached ...he didn't go from being a klutz to a polished speaker overnight without some very intense training...However, if you think President Bush can speak from key bullet points or themes and do it in a logical, cohesive way, you are giving him more credit than I believe he deserves."

Ellis, I understand your point. However, the idea that the President can't do what millions of other professionals do every day is something I refuse to believe.

William Lescohier was not so impressed with the President's speech. In fact, he says the President "has not made any significant improvement in his public communication skills. He still obviously stiffly reads all of those highly structured, rich in prose, speeches, which he isn't even remotely capable of writing himself, or understanding (unlike Clinton or Kennedy)."

Tell me, William, by chance you wouldn't be a Democrat, would you? I notice you left out Ronald Reagan, one of the great public communicators of the 20th Century.

Carol Potter had some concerns about the President's non-verbal communication; "The thing I found jarring was his flapping of his eyebrows at points during the speech-does this mean he's joking, he's flirting, he's making eye contact?...If they've engineered everything else about this Presidency, I think they should work on the eyebrow flapping."

Carol, non-verbal communication is a powerful thing. However lots of people don't interpret the President's eyebrow thing as a negative. The bottom line on this is that your non-verbal communication shouldn't distract your audience or appear to contradict the words coming out of your mouth.

Finally, Kathi Krablin of Kids Corporation says what she finds so interesting is "that we judge the President's leadership ability by his speaking ability, which is, after all, a learned skill. We could have an absolute moron saying the right stuff (which someone else writes) and everyone would be happy. Speaks to the issue of how important public speaking is."

Cathy, you're so right. Whether you are the President of the United States or a sales manager, the way you speak in public is extremely important.

Dr. Steve Adubato coaches and speaks on the subjects of communication and leadership and is the author of the book "Speak from the Heart." Write to him at The Star-Ledger, 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102, or click here to contact him through this web site.