EDMONTON, AB
University of La Crete Sociologist Dr. Pete Peters, who has spent more than 30 years studying audience engagement with public speakers, has found that Mark Carney’s speeches are a full 2% more exciting than a sermon from an Old Colony Mennonite church.
“Basically I just stand in the back with a clipboard and keep track of how many people fall asleep,” said Peters. “After two minutes, he already lost a couple of seniors in the back, after five minutes, half of the audience was out, and after ten, well, there was so much snoring I thought it was a Sunday afternoon meddachschlop.”
Peters has compared his findings to audience reactions to sermons of various sort, including longwinded verse-by-verse sermons by several Mennonite pastors.
“And we found Carney was only slightly more engaging than they were,” said Peters. “But I think that’s only because he’s not speaking in Low German.”
In an effort to spice things up a bit, Carney plans to begin each upcoming speech with a lively rendition of “Come to the Church in the Wildwood.”
(photo credit: Bank of England/CC)
