It was clear from their manner of speech that all officers were at the ready.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Palin, who studied journalism in college and worked for a time as a sportscaster, has an informal manner of speech, simultaneously chatty and urgent, and she reinforces her words with winks and nods and wrinklings of her nose that seem meant to telegraph intimacy and ease.

NEWYORKER: The State of Sarah Palin

" And he believed that Patton himself was intensely cinematic: "He was theatrical in his speech, theatrical in his manner, theatrical in his manner of dress.

WSJ: Book Review: Making 'Patton'

"At the start of my term, I took on an informal, folksy dress, manner and speech, " he told Asiaweek.

CNN: Reinventing Estrada

Bush, delivering his speech from the Texas House of Representatives, spoke in measured tones appropriate to the disputed manner in which he won the election.

FORBES: Top Of The News: It's Bush