To Lectern or Not to Lectern?

To Lectern or Not to Lectern?

Was this a tale of two lecterns?

First came Keir Starmer doing gravitas: the leader, the decent man, falling on his sword before heading off to see the King. Then came Andy Burnham doing almost exactly the same thing... but without a lectern and obviously with a more positive vibe.

The lectern thing said a lot about how both men want to be seen. In itself it does three things. First it gives you somewhere to put your notes, phone and laptop. Second, it gives you something to hold onto – not to be underestimated if you’re a little nervous. But third, and this is the important one, it creates distance, some might call it a barrier between you and your audience.

It says, I'm apart from you, possibly above you and we’re definitely not mates., “I’m the leader, and in the nicest possible way, you’re not.” 

Years ago I started encouraging people to ditch the lectern whenever possible because, for  more modern audiences, that distancing is the exact opposite of what most speakers want to achieve. It can also signal something rather old-school: corporate, formal, dependable, even a little headteacher-ish.

Which, to be fair, actually suits Starmer. Whatever your politics, he comes across as someone driven by one overriding value: do the right thing. Certainly the vibe from colleagues is he’s a decent human being trying to make the world a better place.  He's also never looked remotely comfortable trying to be "one of the people", and I suspect speaking without a lectern would feel slightly performative to him. He would probably say, “I get it but that’s not me.”

Burnham is the opposite. His style is, "I'm just Andy." More conversational. More relaxed, like someone you could imagine chatting to in the pub. Without the lectern, he’s saying, I’m human, accessible and authentic. Just me.

Will that style always work? Maybe not. If the mood of the country changes, which it will of course several times,  it may start to grate.

But in an age where image, messaging and authenticity matter (whether real or performed) as much as the words themselves, Andy Burnham's choice may still prove to be the smarter one. Time will tell.