Pope Francis goes off script and wows his audience

“Wow.” That’s the first word that came to mind for CNN’s Chris Cuomo after Pope Francis delivered an impromptu speech about the family
On Saturday night, the final evening of his historic visit to America, Pope Francis had spent two hours enjoying music and festivities along with thousands of others who had assembled for the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. He also closely listened as six immigrant families shared their stories of struggle, love, faith, and hope.

When it came time for the pope to deliver a speech, he completely ditched his prepared remarks and spoke from the heart. Pope Francis didn’t simply ad-lib a few lines; he threw out the entire 2-page speech which had been distributed to the media. Commentators correctly noted that his remarks were passionate, animated, and powerful. The mark of an inspired communicator is whether he or she can tell the audience what they need to know at the moment, and be willing to go off script if he or she deems it necessary to connect with the audience.

               Pope Francis (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

He began with a theme (God is good, God is beautiful, God is truth), and used humor, metaphors, parables, personal stories, and a rousing conclusion to bring the theme to life. Here are just a few sentences from his unscripted speech.

Society is strong if its edified on beauty, goodness, and truth.

Once a child asked me, ‘father, what did God do before creating the world?’ I said, before creating the world, God loved…All that love he gave, shared, and bestowed it upon the family.

Take special care of children and grandparents. Children are the future, the strength that moves us forward. Grandparents are the living memory of the family. To look after grandparents, to look after children is the expression of love.

“Wow. That is the Bergoglio [Pope Francis’ family name] that made him a legend in Argentina,” said CNN’s Chris Cuomo as the speech ended. “That is the passion and the delivery that everyone knows this man to have.” One expert, a professor of scripture, said, “Pope Francis wasn’t off script, he was on script. As soon as he came to the podium I thought, uh oh. This is the pastor. This is what he does best. This is why the cardinals elected him.”

Pope Francis’ unscripted moment—and the reaction of the pastoral commentator—reminds me of the true story behind one of the greatest speeches of the twentieth century. Many people don’t know that the most famous passages of Martin Luther King’s famous “Dream Speech” were unscripted. Martin Luther King Jr. began the speech by reading his prepared remarks. The gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, who was standing near King, shouted “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!”

Few people heard the shout, but King did. And he knew exactly what she meant.

King had used the metaphor of a dream in previous speeches, but he had no intention of revisiting it on the mall in Washington. It was not included in the copy of the speech handed to the press. King’s speechwriter, Clarence Jones, knew what was happening because he had written the speech, the speech King was suddenly no longer reading. “These people out there today don’t know it yet, but they’re about ready to go to church,” Clarence whispered to the person next to him.

Anyone can teach a leader how to write and deliver a better speech, but only inspired speakers can spark movements. And inspiration, by definition, comes from the heart. Pope Francis has moved millions of Americans because he speaks the words that connects us to one another. Sometimes those heartfelt words are written ahead of time, but often they’re not. They happen in the moment, and it’s in those unscripted moments when magic happens.

By (Carmine Gallo) Forbes.com
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