Here's what we're watching for in Tim Walz's big speech at the DNC

Gov. Tim Walz will take the biggest stage of his political career at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

Why it matters: After he was tapped as Kamala Harris' vice presidential candidate just two weeks ago, 70% of voters had no impression of the Minnesota Democrat .

• The primetime keynote will be one of the few chances the two-term governor will get to introduce himself to millions of voters before Election Day.

State of play: The shift from Minnesota to the national stage represents a big step up for Walz, who told Harris' vetting team that he had never used a teleprompter.

• He gave two of his six State of the State addresses not on stages or in staid legislative chambers but at schools.
• While his role as chair of the Democratic Governors Association put him on the national fundraising circuit , those appearances were largely confined to smaller audiences of like-minded Democratic activists.

Between the lines: The governor's blunt and folksy speaking style, which he peppers with casual language, jokes and relatable life stories, has fueled his recent rise in popularity .

• A new Axios vibes survey released this morning shows Walz outperforming GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance on four measures, including having an "authentic connection to everyday Americans.

What they're saying: "He's unscripted, and for some in politics, they don't like it because it's not as polished," said Minnesota DFL Party chair Ken Martin, who has known Walz for two decades.

• "But I think that's what endears him to Americans. ... If I was advising him, I'd tell him not to change any of that," Martin added.

Friction point: Walz also tends to talk fast — the feedback at his first candidate boot camp back in 2005 was to slow down, per Politico — sometimes starting a new sentence or thought before he finishes the last.

• That's led him to get tripped up by gaffes or false statements , including about his own life story.

Zoom out: To communicate effectively with a bigger, live audience, the governor will have to slow down and learn to "judge the pacing of his speech," presidential speech expert John M. Murphy told Axios.

• "Words come out in a hurry, and he's going to need to learn to pause more, let the audience enjoy moments with him, rather than speeding through it," said Murphy, a communications professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who has reviewed some of the speeches.
• Murphy said he's already seen Walz make adjustments along those lines in recent campaign speeches, which did involve teleprompters and crowds of 10,000-plus.

What to watch: In addition to sharing life stories to introduce himself and connect with voters, Walz may use his bigger platform to lean into the vice presidential nominee's traditional role on the campaign: attack dog.

• "It's kind of a good cop, bad cop thing," Murphy says.
• The vice presidential hopeful's speech is generally "aimed at rousing loyalists, the party members themselves, whereas the president tends to speak to the whole country."

The bottom line: While convention viewership has declined over the years, it's "very seldom" that a candidate gets live, primetime coverage from all networks.

• "There's the nomination acceptance and there's the debate," Murphy observed. "Those are the two moments when big audiences tune in and decide whether or not this is a good candidate."