Mr. Bloomberg, whose speaking style has improved greatly even in the last few months, did pepper his remarks with several odd idioms and shibboleths.
"We've been involved in a lot of experiences, some of them hairy," says Mr. Kelly, whose speaking style is faster, more staccato, in a separate conversation.
Duncan, whose speaking style is earnest if less than electrifying, has recruited Gingrich and Al Sharpton to make a series of appearances with him.
But in each other's presence they bantered about good singers whose speaking voices did not grate (Tom Waits and Bjork were mentioned) and whether British accents were more likely to reel in the ladies than American ones.
Carey (whose speaking voice is surprisingly deep) also has a good line in camp audience banter, addressing everyone as "darling" and daffily (if inaccurately) saying that the audience weren't born when her earliest hits were written.
Having worked as a community organizer and a constitutional law professor – and with a family history that "could only happen in America" – Obama is a more elevated orator than George W Bush, whose speaking style was described by one of his speechwriters as "blunt" and "staccato".
