Rick Perry's "Oops" Moment and Five Lessons We Can Learn

Drawing a blank. It’s one of people’s biggest fears when it comes to speaking in public. It is painful for the audience and excruciating for the speaker. And during the Republican Presidential Debate on 9 November 2011, Rick Perry experienced it firsthand.

Rick Perry
Rick Perry

In case you missed the debate, this was the moment:

I’ve not been following the Republican Presidential primary that closely, but I do know that this is not the first time that Perry has made a gaffe. And it is certainly not helping his standing in the polls (though it is providing a steady supply of material for late night comedians).

So what lessons can we learn from Perry’s cringe-worthy moment?

1. Be prepared

Yes, we are all human. Yes, we all make mistakes. But … good grief, the man is running for President of the United States! And he was not talking about some esoteric issue; he was talking about shutting down three major federal government agencies. That’s huge. If you are going to take that kind of position, you have to be able to name the agencies and articulate the rationale for abolishing each one at the drop of a hat.

2. Deal with the mistake quickly

Had Rick Perry acknowledged that he had forgotten, he would have minimized the damage. But like a punch-drunk boxer, he kept coming back for more and each attempt just made it worse. By the end of the clip you can hear someone (another candidate or one of the moderators) say “Oh my!”.

It would have been much better if Perry had said “… commerce, education and … I’m sorry but I’ve just drawn a complete blank. I’ll come back to you with the third agency in a moment.” Doing so would have minimized the time spent on the issue, it would have moved the debate along and it would have given Perry time to collect his thoughts.

3. Organize your notes

At around 0:45, Rick Perry shuffles through his notes to find the answer but quickly gives up. Your notes must be prepared in a manner that makes them useful. They should be:

  • Key points, not long sentences or paragraphs
  • Typed in large font so that you can easily read them
  • Organized in a way that allows you to scan them and quickly find what you are looking for

4. Use humour the right way

Perry tried several times to use humour to defuse the situation, but he went about it the wrong way. Instead of poking fun at himself, he ended up making fun of the substantive issues:

  • (0:11) “… and the, uh, what’s the third one there? Let’s see …” Remember the issue he is discussing—closing down a federal agency. He was just too glib about the “third one” as he tried to remember it. I doubt that many federal agency employees or their families found it funny.
  • (0:21 – 0:26) In response to a suggestion by Mitt Romney that the third agency was the Environmental Protection Agency: “EPA! There you go! No, I’m kidding. Hah! [Slaps table.]” If Perry was looking for a quick way to alienate environmentalists, he succeeded. Worse, the line resulted in Perry having to offer a pitiful “No sir, no sir” to the moderator who asked if he was serious.
  • (0:53) “Oops!” Really? “Oops”?! It’s not like he forgot to take out the garbage. He forgot which government agency he is planning to close!

Rick Perry should have directed the humour toward himself. He could have, at the same time, taken a good-natured shot at his rivals. (After all, this is politics.) So, for example, he could have said something along the lines of “Clearly, I’ve been spending too much time around Mitt Romney.” Or, because he drew a blank while looking at Ron Paul, he might have said, “I’m sorry, I was momentarily hypnotized by Congressman Paul’s tie.” The important thing is to take yourself lightly but treat the issues with the utmost respect.

5. Promise to find the answer

If you don’t know the answer to a question or if you forget your point, don’t just leave it at that, like Rick Perry did. Instead, promise to find the answer and come back to it. Of course, in a televised debate, you don’t have the luxury of phoning the office or checking your email during a coffee break. Either you remember the answer or you find it in your (well organized) notes. (See Point 3 above.) In fact, later in the debate Perry did manage that the third agency was the Department of Energy, but by then it was too late.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

    1. Thanks, Florian. A pause looks so much more dignified than stammering or stuttering over the answer. As it was live TV, the moderators would likely not have let Perry get away with pausing for long. If they interrupted him while he was thinking and he still did not know the answer, then he could have simply said so and promised to come back with it.
      John

  1. Good Points about Perry’s Brain Freeze, John.
    One more suggestion: Use a Mind Map with visuals rather than text notes. Notes can be hard to read, especially when nervous. (They get fuzzy for some of us!)
    Those three agencies could have been represented as:
    1. Commerce – A Shopping Cart with the word COMMERCE across it.
    2. Education – A Graduation Cap.
    3. Energy – A Lighted Lightbulb, perhaps with a Lightening Bolt next to it.
    Thanks for the post, John!

      1. Thanks John for bringing this to light and your useful observations. A small slip and yet if not handled well the effects can be disastrous. Easy to say afterwards, but having gone through the experience at least once does motivate one to brush up on improvisation skills.
        Commerce, Energy and….then close my mouth!

  2. Ufff… I don’t know if anything can fix this. Saying you are going to change the lives of thousands of people, and then not knowing the name of the department… communicates what the guy cares about. The problem might not be one of speaking skills, but one of what the guy spends his time, energy, discipline caring about… (probably himself and his goal of being “president”, not the USA and its goals, or the broader government and its goals).

    1. Thanks, Conor. Though I don’t know enough about Perry to make a definitive statement, based on what I saw (and I watched more of the debate than just that clip) I fear that your assessment might be right. As I said in the post, he should have known the three departments cold and the reasons for abolishing each. But for me the giveaway was how he handled the slip; he was just too glib about it, given the seriousness of what he was saying-
      John

    1. Thanks, Amy. I appreciate the comment.
      You are spot on about the training and practice. As the saying goes, “If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
      Cheers back!
      John

  3. Thanks John for your comment on my blog!
    I’ve been a fan of yours after watching your Toastmasters Humorous Speech on Youtube.
    Thanks for sharing. You have a lot of excellent, and detailed explanations on your post.
    I’m looking forward to learning more from you.
    Akash

    1. Thank you for the comment, Akash. You have a nice blog going. I just ReTweeted your post on the 25 tips from 300 public speakers. Nice stuff you have there. I’ll be back for more for sure.
      John

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

12 + 18 =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International