The worst thing you could possibly do with £496,000 is hand it to Charlie Sheen and ask him to joylessly monotone his way through another flat, featureless, morbidly unfunny 22 minutes of Two and a Half Men.
A monotone monarch worked her way through a long list that had been handed to her, with the aim of convincing a country that its new government is pulsating with energy and purpose.
In the courtyard of a simple mosque bordered by recently dug graves Mohammad recounts in a low monotone how he lost his daughter.
You don't put yourself in situations to risk," she adds in a rapid, whispering monotone with a Serbian accent.
As he slurred his monotone words, the crowd yawned, and quickly thinned.Style may not be his forte, but Mr Mwanawasa has successes under his belt.
Its main thesis is that "markets are conversations" among humans who use language that is "natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking" and above all "unmistakably genuine", whereas companies and governments are stuck in "the humourless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal".
It is a shame, then, that the author lapses all too frequently into turgid technocratic monotone.
Whereas they electioneered in a disciplined monotone, he spoke freely and from the heart.
Jerry Yang, the internet company's boss and co-founder, and his top lieutenants read a prepared statement of banalities and clichés in a robotic monotone, then recycle them when pretending to answer questions from Wall Street analysts—until the tedium overwhelms all concerned.
At rallies even his own supporters were fast bored by the former lawyer's monotone drawl.
