Speech Class

By Harriet Barovick, Wendy Cole, Tam Gray, Lina Lofaro, David Spitz, Flora Tartakovsky and Chris Taylor

Silver-tongued George W. Bush aside, the presidential candidates for 2000 are in dire need of better speaking skills. Speech and media expert Robert Dickman, voice-presentation coach Candice Coleman and positive-thinking guru Tony Robbins assess five hopeful but dull Speechmakers-in-Chief:

REPORT CARD

NAME Bill Bradley

Appearance: "His posture is too casual. It doesn't serve him well" --CC

Expression: "He just keeps talking until he runs out of air" --CC Room for Improvement: "He's gotta show that playfulness" --TR

Strengths: "He has passion in what he says. He has conviction. He's believable" --RD

REPORT CARD

NAME Elizabeth Dole

Appearance: "Because of the way the camera lens distorts, the round collars and chokers don't present her well" --CC

Expression: "Her voice is strong, well-pitched and decisive" --CC

Room for Improvement: "I would work on her emotional brittleness" --RD

Strengths: "She is obviously extremely bright" --TR

REPORT CARD

NAME Dan Quayle

Appearance: "He needs to improve his posture and breathe" --CC

Expression: "He tends to talk at a higher pitch and a louder volume in areas that don't really matter" --TR

Room for Improvement: "He needs to stop declaring that he cares" --TR

Strengths: "I don't think he's as ill equipped as the media made him out to be" --RD

REPORT CARD

NAME Steve Forbes

Appearance: "He's a businessman who does not have an attractive presence and whose smiles look like smirks" --TR

Expression: "His voice is high-pitched and strangled. Every word out of his mouth seems too planned. There's very little spontaneity" --CC

Room for Improvement: "Watching him shake hands with people is just an uncomfortable experience" --TR

Strengths: "He's funny when he speaks and a very bright guy" --RD

REPORT CARD

NAME Al Gore

Appearance: "We all know what charisma is...Al Gore doesn't have it" --CC

Expression: "There's a heavy feeling when Al is speaking about almost anything" --TR

Room for Improvement: "He needs vulnerability more than anything else" --TR

Strengths: "I remember that time he was dancing--that was great" --RD