Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper yesterday addressed the nation in wake of the terrible tragedy that took place in his nation’s capitol. His statement was extremely well written, one of the better in those types of situations I’ve ever heard, but the delivery lacked emotion.

Now, it’s important to consider that Mr. Harper probably didn’t have much time to practice reading the statement, thus committing it to his short term memory and increasing his chances of a successful delivery. However, even with limited time, especially in a situation such as this with so much riding on a good performance, that he know his script by heart. That would have allowed him to not come across so much as he’s reading, instead that he’s talking to his audience.