Which is worse, a well-written presentation badly delivered, or a badly written presentation delivered well?  The short answer is that they’re both bad.  But the longer answer is more complicated and worth considering.

A well-written presentation – badly delivered – is hard work for the audience, and an offense against Style.  A badly written presentation – well delivered – is a trick foisted upon the audience, and an offense against Truth.  So on that score, a good delivery of a bad message is worse than its opposite.  That’s because we believe that the bad deliverer could still be – in fact, probably is – authentic, whereas there’s often something deceitful about the glib deliverer of a bad message. 

There’s a further distinction to be made, since the content of a presentation can be bad in two senses:  badly written, but a brilliant idea — another offense against Style; and badly conceived, a really bad idea, even an evil one. 

History is sprinkled with smooth deliverers of really bad, evil messages – Hitler, McCarthy, and Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, come immediately to mind.  We study them with fascination and horror.  They con some portion of a population for a time, and then the allure wears off, and everyone reviles them.   

But what of all the great messages badly delivered?  History forgets them.  They sink into oblivion, if they’re not celebrated on YouTube.  They don’t get the airtime they deserve on the merits, increasingly, in this media-savvy, impatient age.  We are quick to see through slick ad copy, but slower to find the gems hidden in clumsy phrasing, awkward delivery, or poor production.  Our standards are so high, that we’re quick to shout “amateur!” and turn away.   

Unfortunately, what we get most often in the public speaking world is badly written messages, badly delivered – a double offense against Style and Truth.  For your edification and amusement, then, here are examples of these misfiring attempts at public speaking. 

First, a well-written presentation, badly delivered: Gordon Brown on wiring the world: http://tinyurl.com/lupzbs.  Destined to be forgotten immediately after the event. 

Second, a badly-written presentation, delivered well:  Tony Robbins on, well, himself mostly: http://tinyurl.com/6sbmkp.  My guess is that you'll forget this one, too. 

And finally, a badly-written presentation, badly delivered:  Bob Ballard, the deep-sea explorer, rambling on about the ocean (and himself): http://tinyurl.com/m287ge.  You probably won't even make it all the way through….

Enjoy!