After a much-derided first presidential debate for its inability to remain, well, presidential, Presidential Debate No. 2 was its antithesis — civil, substantive, and easy to follow. Here’s how each candidate scored on vocals and visuals.
Let’s start with how they sounded. Unsurprisingly, when you’re not trying to interrupt someone else, the way you use your voice changes. This includes pacing, inflection, pitch, and volume. And right off the bat, it was noticeable that President Trump took to heart the main criticism he received from the first debate — he needed to tone it down. Literally. And for the first 17 minutes, he used a slower pace and a quieter voice, mixed with words and phrases that were more respectful to Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
While this alone was a huge victory for the incumbent, he sacrificed vocal energy in the process. It is possible to achieve two things at once: a vocal delivery that engages the audience and challenges your opponent. While Trump’s overall energy did improve as the interview progressed (including his poor decision to talk over moderator Kristen Welker, who unfairly interrupted him more than Biden), he should have started with more vocal projection, signifying confidence and passion. Yet, he fell into the trap that many people do when they are trying to soften their image — his voice softened as well. In summary, Trump needed to keep his vocal energy high and the snark at an all-time low. He achieved the latter.
While Trump’s change in style was the most noticeable aspect of the debate, Biden’s use of vocals, on the other hand, remained fairly consistent. He interrupted less than in the first debate, but he stayed true to his pattern of having two vocal dials — the “uncle next door” voice when delivering common talking points to softball questions and the “just wait till Corn Pop hears about this” lecture when he’s giving rehearsed lines direct to camera. The reason it feels like Biden is lecturing is because he starts talking much faster and much louder. His vocal projection increases many decibels and borders on yelling, which is not ideal.
What Biden can do to achieve better vocal impact is to soften his impassioned statements so that the difference between his two styles isn’t so stark. It’s about picking up the pace and increasing the volume some — but not so much that it sounds like two distinct styles. It’s the contrast that makes him sound not only angry, but also inauthentic.
Whatever people do with their voice, the visuals will follow. Biden did his usual eye squint and used choppy hand gestures during his two-minute answer period, which only added to the feeling that he was lecturing. But he did keep better eye contact with Trump when the president was speaking.
The most interesting facial expression he used was his wide eyes when Trump first mentioned the breaking news about Hunter Biden and the Biden family’s alleged ties to business dealings in China. Because Biden had called a lid since Monday, this was the first time we got to see him react to the allegations. And what we saw was surprise from Biden when it’s clear that he shouldn’t have been surprised by what was said about him. The better way to respond visually is to maintain the same expression to not seem phased by an accusation that you think people shouldn’t ask you about. Too much faux outrage makes one seem guilty of the accusation.
In contrast, Trump’s visuals were a toned-down version of himself. After his dancing video went viral this week, there seemed to be an awkward twist as he spoke his first few words that were reminiscent of his rally-dance-turned-TikTok-video. But he eventually settled in. Trump remains steady behind a podium, whereas Biden shifts his weight from leg to leg, causing the cameraman to follow him constantly so that he isn’t out of frame. Trump gave his typical sideways glances and rolled his eyes, but for Trump, he did pretty well to keep his poker face.
For the independent voter, the suburban woman voter, and the undecided voter (if there are any left), Trump and Biden did well to present themselves to these voting blocs. If voters were deciding on this debate alone, the vocals and visuals of these two candidates would be a draw. But if the voter was deciding based on the first round, the win would go to Trump. He made the most improvement while Biden stayed true to form.
Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is president of District Media Group.
