[250]

Originally posted by Ronn_Bman: I think President Bush appears much more presidental in unrehearsed/unplanned moments. I've been in the communications/radio business for nearly 20 years, so trust me when I say that while removing "uh", "er", and "and" from a normal conversation is difficult. Removing them from a speech is nearly impossible. Some people are better at it than others, but it's not reflective of thought processes or intellect. Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw usually go through their nightly news programs without any obvious "space filling" sounds because they are practiced, composed pro's who are at the top of their game. But if you look back to the continuous news coverage which began 9-11-01, you will hear alot of these sounds coming from these pro's because they don't have every second of time filled and accounted for, they're not sure what's coming next, and basically, it's not business as usual. They are thrown out of their comfort zone, and revert(to some small degree) to regular guys finding themselves in front of the camera. Former President Reagan was considered a great orator, but he constantly used these "fillers". It just didn't reflect on him because his personality made up for it(and then some). Also, film legend, Jimmy Stewart's film personality was built on "filler sounds", and stammering. He did it unconsciously, but thought people liked it because it made him seem like an everyday "Joe".

what an insightful post!