Honestly, objectively, do you think President Obama is an exceptional public speaker?

During the first campaign I remember hearing Obama called “The Great Communicator”, a term I associate with Ronald Reagan. Since I don’t have a TV channel, I was seldom, if ever, given the chance to hear Obama speak.

Within the past year, I started listening to NPR, and they frequently play clips of Obama speeches. I’m constantly amazed at how poorly cadenced most of his speeches are, almost like he’s reading the material for the first time.

This isn’t a political question, and I’ll go on the record as saying that I think both Reagan and Clinton were exceptional orators. I’m just having a disconnect between what I’ve been told about Obama’s general public speaking and what I’ve perceived.

I ask the question because I heard part of an Obama speech this week that sounded very fluent. Unlike what I was accustomed to.