You and I and Bobby Jindall all have something in common; we are all in a statistical dead heat in the polls nationally for the Republican Nomination for President. Jindal is at 0 to 2%, which is in the margin of error. I am pretty sure you and I are tied at 0%.
But how can a young, brilliant (he was a Rhodes Scholar), governor of an important state be at essentially 0% in the polls?
It all comes down to one speech he gave in February 2009 Here it is http://www.vox.com/2015/6/22/8824553/bobby-jindal-speech
His speech was the Republican response to the President’s State of the Union Address. Jindal’s performance was universally panned as a disaster; he came across condescending, petty, and lacking in gravitas.
So, it turns out, it makes sense to be nervous about a big speech, because one bad speech can destroy your career.
And it is important to note that one good speech can make an entire political career. Most of Ronald Reagan’s political good fortunes all flowed from his 1964 GOP convention speech. Similarly, President Obama rose to power primarily because of rave reviews from his 2004 speech at the Democratic convention.
However, it is possible to overcome a bad speech if you then go on to make lots of great speeches. Bill Clinton’s 1988 Democratic convention speech was widely ridiculed, but he went on to win the 1992 nomination, in part, because he gave 10 good speeches a day from 1988 till 1992.
Politics can be a cruel and difficult business because your enemies are going to exploit every single blunder you make to maximum effect. All the more reason to rehearse speeches until you are convinced they are great. If you or anyone you work with is thinking of running for political office, I have a new online course specific to political candidates. You can find it here. https://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com/online-training.html