21/07/2026
Seeing lots of posts commenting on A.B. yesterday. He’s being applauded by many in the media for presenting with no lectern and no notes, and slated by some presentation skills experts on LinkedIn for being tense (those hands!).
I think, though, that seeing someone consciously willing to try something different is excellent. Especially when that person is the new PM. He can talk to us, as relationally as he can. Yes, his face was expressionless so it’s trickier to know how congruent he is. Yes, he shuffled around a bit. Yes, his hands were fixed. Yes, I thought he spent too long remembering his content and pausing in random places. He was clearly nervous, though maybe this is humanising and counter-cultural to the bluster and polish we become used to. But at least it was thought about and intentional. And it demonstrates some kind of care, I think.
Whether or not any of this actually matters is, of course, up for debate. I suspect we’ll be wanting some real action. And when you think about the coordination behind a decision like that (no lectern), the number of people likely spoken with in forming it, does that make the whole thing just for effect rather than genuine connection? Is it all just a bit of theatre?
