Even last night, on what should have been a moment of triumph, he gave a strangely flat speech.
A flat speech could leave the country uninspired and unconvinced — undermining Mr. Romney's hopes of winning the presidency even before the final push begins.
Like the eagle scenario, this one seems unlikely — it might require both an extremely flat speech from Mr. Obama on Thursday night, and then a poor jobs report on Friday morning.
Mr. Gore's tone was notably vigorous and aggressive, a discernible change from his flat delivery in a speech in Iowa on Friday.
Starting off by telling someone how nervous they look while delivering the speech, or how flat the speech was will only make those elements worse.
For now, the content of the speech was so breathtaking that few noticed her rather flat delivery (although some did, to be fair).
Public opinion of Mr. Obama's performance last week may well be reflected in polls over the weeks ahead, and those polls may indicate that people agree to some extent with the instant conventional wisdom reflected in the headline over an online column by Howard Fineman, the Washington columnist for Newsweek: "Obama's Curiously Flat Gulf Speech".
And it's available in paperback!" Jeb Bush stumbled in trying to attack Rubio for not showing up for work in the Senate, and reverted to flat stump speech-talk when he got a chance to talk about his economic plan.
As the desiring brother, he behaves from the beginning as if he were auditioning for a very mad Hamlet: his body is bowed, his voice barks, he is inclined to drop to his knees, to give speeches flat on his back, or, at a particularly tense moment, to execute a backward somersault.
Under the direction of a film-maker who speaks little English, Doherty and Gainsbourg give flat performances, their speech uninflected, their line readings uncertain.
