For Immediate Release
Monday, September 27, 2004

What to Watch for in Presidential Debates;
Communications Expert Provides Voter Handbook

Voters need to watch the upcoming presidential debates with "a critical and informed eye," says communications coach Ed Barks.

"These debates could tip what few swing votes the pollsters tell us are out there," Barks said. "Both the candidates' words and their nonverbal signals will likely tip the scales one way or the other."

What should voters watch for when they tune in? He recommends that viewers "monitor both what the candidates say and how they say it," taking "verbal and nonverbal messages into account." The advice appears in his September Personal Trainer column, "The Voter's Handbook to Presidential Debates."

Candidates these days are reluctant to veer off their intended message, Barks argues. Still, he notes, gaffes sometimes occur. "Keep your radar up for any comments that might send one candidate's staff reaching for the antacid," he writes.

Barks, President of the communications training firm Barks Communications, also provides tips for monitoring the candidates' nonverbal performance. As he writes, "For right or wrong-and despite protests to the contrary-voters do take away strong impressions from how the candidates act and sound rather than what they say."

He puts forth examples of exchanges that could trigger negative voter reaction: "[W]ill George Bush pronounce Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison four different ways, as he did in a June speech? Will John Kerry wander into long, tortuous, and sometimes conflicting explanations of his policies?"

Barks' column also touches upon examples of historical debate blunders by George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Al Gore.

"The Voter's Handbook to Presidential Debates" is available both online at www.barkscomm.com/personaltrainer/perstrain-s and via a free e-mail subscription at www.barkscomm.com/subscribe, as are other of Barks' recent monthly thought pieces.

Barks Communications specializes in media, presentation skills, and legislative and regulatory testimony training for business, association, government, and non-profit leaders. Ed Barks is a trainer, author, and speaker who teaches today's leaders how to work with the media and deliver dynamic, message-packed presentations. The firm also operates Barkscomm.com, the Internet's Communications Training Resource, at www.barkscomm.com.