As I’ve written countless times, our ability to communicate effectively is at the heart of everything we do. It’s easily one of the most utilized and sought-after skills to master, regardless of whether you’re an employee, business leader, entrepreneur, student, professor, or—you guessed it—a political candidate. To that end, that’s why TalkMeUp was created several years ago to address shortcomings in communication effectiveness by leveraging AI for instant measurement, analysis, reporting, tracking, scaling, and more. 

The results have been fantastic—so much so that we recently tested TalkMeUp by asking it to provide us with an unbiased assessment of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump’s communication effectiveness during the 2024 Presidential Debate on September 10. You can see the complete evaluation below.

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A Few Key Points To Consider With This Communication Effectiveness Analysis

We analyzed the first two minutes of each candidate’s opening statements, not the entire debate. We did this because of the importance of the introduction. Opening remarks give the speaker a golden opportunity to capture the audience’s attention and pull them into the content of one’s talk. You don’t want to fumble away that opportunity. Furthermore, the analysis was done in a purely unbiased way. What you see below is nothing more than an analysis of two approaches to communication at that moment. Our goal is to present that data and offer context to the factors we measured and the outcome.

For transparency’s sake, the analysis took into consideration the following metrics:

Empathy — the ability to sense, understand, and respond to other people’s emotions and perspectives

Logical transitions — the words and phrases we use to connect and transition from one idea to the other

Persuasiveness — the influence over your audience’s decision-making and ability to sway them to your perspective

Sentiment — the attitude (positive, negative, or neutral) used to express certain ideas based on word choice and tone

Enthusiasm — the ability to show keen interest, conviction, and passion

Filler words — words used to conceal lapses in thought and preparation

Pacing — the rhythm and speed of speech

Eye contact — a measure of intentions, trustworthiness, and your emotions

Facial expressions — measure the emotional aspects of your message

Gestures — reveal attitude and conviction in your message. 

For the most part, both candidates had relatively similar scores in most of these metrics. But I’m willing to bet your eyes quickly gravitated to three key metrics that stand out above all the rest: Empathy, Facial Expressions, and Sentiment.

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Zero Score With Empathy

Empathy is a tricky concept to grasp since people tend to define it differently. A basic definition is that it’s one’s ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It’s about emotion and emotional connections. For me, it’s built on the awareness and appreciation of difference. That mindset is important because the workforce has changed dramatically over the past few decades.

In terms of the first few minutes of this debate, neither candidate showed a connection to the audience through their word choices. Instead of using words like you, your, we, and us, they spent more time using a lot of I and me words—hence the low scores.

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Vast Differences in Facial Expressions

Nonverbal communication (expressing sincerity, authenticity, confusion, eagerness, etc.) is critical to effective communication. It’s the metric that stirs the drink if you will. As the audience, we can tune out word choice and tone of voice, but we can’t tune out nonverbal communication, such as facial expressions. As a result, you must be tuned into what your face communicates as you speak. 

Vice President Harris received a 62% score in this metric, while former President Trump received a zero. Why, you ask? Based on the data, Vice President Harris’ facial expressions were significantly more animated from the beginning than former President Trump's, who carried more of a deadpan expression throughout the night. When he did react, it can be argued that most of his expressions showed a scowl or disapproving face. For better or worse, it showed in his TalkMeUp scores.

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Vast Difference in Sentiment

Based purely on the TalkMeUp data, it is clear that tone and word choice were more positive with one candidate versus the other. For former President Trump, the focus was on what’s wrong with our country. With Vice President Harris, the focus was on what the possibilities could be for this country. Hence, according to the data, her message was framed more positively.

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How Would We Coach Harris and Trump?

From a pure communication effectiveness perspective, I would use these scores to advise former President Trump that he might want to consider communicating more positively through his facial expressions, tone of voice, and word choice. Studies consistently show that people are likelier to follow a leader who displays empathy and is positive in their approach. Therefore, Mr. Trump could focus more on positive visions of the future and what he brings to the table and clearly communicate his vision.

Though Vice President Harris’ scores were higher in many areas, I would also caution her to reframe her statements to be more audience-centered. Rather than a lot of I and me, put the audience at the core of every message. Also, I would suggest that too much shaking her head and smirking could eventually become a liability regarding nonverbal communication. 

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The Business World Demands More Effective Communication

Whether you are an organizational leader, an employee working your way up the corporate ladder, or a political candidate with an important message to share with the world, improving your communication effectiveness is important. This is where tools such as TalkMeUp can help. TalkMeUp gives you and your teams the feedback everyone needs to communicate better — all in real-time. To me, that’s the best feature. You can practice with TalkMeUp repeatedly and track your progress. As you see changes in your communication, others will see you as a leader who speaks passionately and confidently in any setting.

Interested in seeing how TalkMeUp can help you improve your communication skills? Try TalkMeUp for free with no obligation.

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About the Author
Ron Placone, Ph.D., is an Associate Teaching Professor Emeritus of Business Management Communication and the Former Faculty Lead and Interim Executive Director for the Accelerate Leadership Center at the Tepper School of Business. Ron teaches a range of communication courses and leadership programs for Tepper students. Ron’s research interests include civility in discourse and fostering individual and team creativity. Previously at Carnegie Mellon, Ron was the Assistant Vice President for Learning & Development. Before joining Carnegie Mellon in 1999, Ron was Vice President and Director of Organizational Development and Communications for Mellon Network Services. Ron has been a consultant, leadership, and communication coach for numerous executives and corporate and not-for-profit organizations. He has consulted in health care, financial services, education, technology, and energy sectors. Ron has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric-English from Carnegie Mellon University.

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