50. Liddy Dole and Person-to-Person: From Law School to the Republican National Convention

The Commonwealth Club in Silicon Valley invited me to give a presentation about how to give a presentation. As I always do on such occasions, I spoke about the foundation of delivering every presentation as a series of person-to-person conversations. To demonstrate the technique, I showed a video clip of Elizabeth Dole at the 1996 Republican National Convention. Mrs. Dole, also known as Liddy, delivered a speech in support of her husband, Senator Bob Dole, as the Republican candidate for president. Shortly after Liddy began to speak, she departed from the usual delivery from the dais, picked up a hand microphone, and walked down to the convention floor. From there, she proceeded to walk about, making a series of person-to-person engagements with several people who had been involved in projects with her husband. Her presentation, broadcast on national television, was the hit of the convention.

After my presentation, Bill Peacock, a member of the Commonwealth Club’s Silicon Valley Board of Advisors and the master of ceremonies for that event, concluded the evening with an anecdote about Ms. Dole. She was a fellow classmate of Mr. Peacock’s at Harvard Law School, and they both were involved in a special project to present a legal brief to a group of sitting judges, one of whom was a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. The law students arrived for their presentations armed with thick binders filled with their research notes, and each of them set the binders on a lectern from which they addressed the panel of judges—except for Liddy Dole. She started from behind the podium for just a few moments and then walked out to speak directly to each judge in a series of person-to-person engagements. Her presentation was so effective, she was declared the winner.

Liddy Dole learned the power of person-to-person conversations at an early age, and she carried that insight throughout her career. It worked for her, and it can work any presenter. It can work for you.