When authentic, Gordon Brown is comfortable with his content and could scarcely be more credible. He turns being didactic into a virtue. Stacked on top of this, is his position as Prime Minister, which is the only Gordon Brown we’re afforded. Whilst his predecessor sculpted a public persona to the point of over familiarity; Brown’s personal life, to coin a phrase, “is just that”.

Imagine a scale that runs between credible and approachable. At one end we have Sean Connery playing James Bond, no curves in his posture, hand gestures only to add emphasis and with palms facing down, his breathing low in his body, he pauses between words and has a voice that goes down at the end of words or phrases. The other end is the theme park version of Mickey Mouse, head and body in continuous child like movement, shrugging shoulders, high breathing and a continuous squeeking voice.

On this crude scale Brown has a lot in common with his compatriot. In this clip at NYU he’s at his default. Were it not for the fluidity and range of this hand gesturing, he’d appear overly stern and serious. Continue reading →