Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation Speech: Analysis by AI

What does Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech analysis reveal? What can AI tell us about her word choices and delivery?

Today, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she will resign. She will not stand in the General Election, now scheduled for October 14. She will step down no later than February 7, by which time she expects a new Labour leader to be chosen and sworn in as prime minister.

We ran Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech through Yoodli’s free AI platform and looked at the analysis of an expert human coach. We share the highlights below. (View the full results inside the platform.)

AI Analysis of Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation Speech

Immediately after the video of Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech was uploaded, Yoodli provided a transcript and an analysis of key points and words, other aspects of word choice, and delivery. Here’s Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech analysis from the AI Speech Coach.

Summary of Key Points

Yoodli provide a summary of the key points and main ideas from the speech:

• The election date for 2023 is Saturday, October 14.
• The current prime minister will not be seeking re-election and will leave office no later than February 7.
• The prime minister’s term has been challenging but has achieved a lot, including ambitious targets for climate change, improved child poverty statistics, increased welfare and state housing stock, easier access to education and training, improved working conditions, and progress on national identity issues.
• A leadership contest will occur within the Labour Party over the next seven days and will go to the wider membership if a leader isn’t able to garner two-thirds of the caucus’s support.
• The prime minister wants to thank New Zealanders for the opportunity to serve and to leave the next prime minster space to make their mark.

Word Choice

Filler words: 0%
Sensitive (non-inclusive) language: 0%
Top keywords: election, believe, time, year, years, date

Weak Words

Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech analysis by AI revealed only seven instances of weak words (so, absolutely, just, probably, kind of), which is 1% of her speech. It’s natural to have up to 4% weak words, so she did a nice job here. One reason for this good score is that she read a written speech, so she chose the words carefully beforehand.

Yoodli’s AI Speech Coach also indicated that Ardern used the potentially weak phrases “so again,” “probably would’ve,” and “so today.” The tool recommends using more specific, concrete, or emphatic language.

Suggested Rephrasing

Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech analysis by AI included one suggested rephrasing.

What Ardern said:
“I’m entering now my sixth year in office, and, for each of these years, I have given my absolute all. I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have but also one of the more challenging. You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges.”

Suggested rephrasing:
“Entering my sixth year in office, I’m proud to say that I have given my all during each of these years. I believe that leading a country is the most honorable job anyone could ever have, and it is no doubt the most challenging. Therefore, you must be fully devoted with a little extra fuel in the tank to tackle the unexpected.”

Delivery

Pacing: 147 words per minute (relaxed, conversational pace). Her pacing varied, which is one good way to keep an audience engaged.
Pauses: She did a nice job of giving her audience time to digest what she was saying.
Eye Contact: This is one area in which she could have done better. She read from a prepared speech that rested quite low on a podium. So, some of the time, her eyes were down on her speech rather than up on her audience.

Human Analysis of Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation Speech

Now, let’s take a look at Jacinda Ardern’s resignation speech analysis by public speaking and presentation coach Alex Merry.

Merry noticed that Ardern made several statements that he believes serve to justify her decision, including these:

• “I’m not leaving because it was hard.”
• “I’m not leaving because I believe we can’t win the election.”
• “I know there will be much discussion in the aftermath of this decision as to what the so-called real reason was. I can tell you that what I’m sharing today is it.”

Merry believes it’s “clear that she is concerned about the narratives that follow this decision.” While Merry doesn’t elaborate, it’s likely that some will point to the poor position of the Labour Party in the polls following pandemic-era policies and in the midst of a troubled economy.

Merry points to two positives about Ardern’s justifications:

• She considers what her audience is wondering about (Why is she resigning?) and addresses it directly.
• She gets ahead of the analysts who will point to other reasons for her resignation.

Wrapping Up

This is surely one of the most difficult speeches of Ardern’s career. She delivered a clear message with appropriate emotion and consideration of how it would be received.

If you’re planning to stand for Labour Party leadership or just want to ace your next speech, interview, or meeting, see what Yoodli can do for you.

P.S. Check out more Yoodli speech analyses like this one:

• The King’s Speech: Using AI to Analyze King Charles’s First Address as Monarch
• Obama’s DNC Speech in 2020: Learn From an Analysis of His Delivery
• Analyzing Steve Jobs’s Commencement Speech With AI Speech Coach