Using the media

I watched the second debate between Alastair Darling and Alex Salmond on Monday night and found it fascinating, though probably for all the wrong reasons. Because I used to do a job that involved getting up on my feet and presenting to an audience, I love watching how other 'performers' play their public.













I don't know how Darling and Salmond decided who was going to stand where - a toss of a coin? - but Alastair Darling got the prime spot: in Europe we read from left to right and from top to bottom and we do the same with pictures, so Darling being the first face the audience sees after the presenter and also standing in the middle of the 'stage' is good for him. He's quite tall and also has a shock of white hair which catches the viewer's attention. Initially, Salmond looks as if he's a bit isolated on the right. And issues of left and right also matter in these events.

We're in the main hall of Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery, a vast Victorian building, pretty echo-y. There's a lot of free space on the set. And a lot depends on how you use the space around you.

You can, as Darling does here, go for the nonchalant look, leaning on the podium. But Salmond has clearly been tutored in this - either that or he has very good instincts when working with an audience. On three occasions, when the audience were asking questions, he abandoned the podium and stepped towards the audience. This reduced the distance between him and his questioners - and thus the remoteness between politician and public - but it also allowed him to make eye contact with the people who were asking questions. Crucial.

It's also helpful to have a good memory for who asked what and Salmond has that. On one occasion, he was asked questions by three members of the audience in pretty quick order. He stepped away from the podium towards the audience, remembered who had asked what, looked at each questioner directly (in the order in which they had spoken) and answered them directly.

There's also the matter of hand signals. Alex Salmond doesn't point. His gestures tend to be towards himself. This of course brings attention back to him and reminds the viewer who's talking.

Alastair Darling points a lot. People don't like that.

Then there's the matter of the presenter. 

Glen Campbell is an Islay boy (not that that would affect my view of how he mediated the debate) and pretty shrewd. He kept the debate going very smoothly right up to the head-to-head section. Then he let the two politicians off the leash. And they were truly awful, shouting over each other, asking questions and not waiting for an answer. In fact, politicians in the UK don't actually behave like that in either Westminster or Holyrood where they have speakers keeping them in order. 

But there's a good chance the undecided - that group of between 12% and 23% of the voters who haven't yet worked out who they plan to vote for - will remember this bit. It reinforces their belief that politicians are thugs: if they can treat each other this badly, what the hell will they do to the rest of us? 

A message for anyone?