Articulate vs Intelligent

For some time now I have observed that there seems to be this common idea that being articulate equates to being intelligent.  The ability to speak well, not surprisingly, seems to indicate intelligence.  Likewise those who speak poorly are often thought of as unintelligent.  There is a video that has made its way around the interwebs of a beauty pageant contestant answering a question that is an almost perfect example of the notion that articulate equals intelligent.

A few years back there was a professional athlete who was very articulate.  He was praised for his intelligence.  I can still remember some of the nuances of his voice when speaking in interviews.  After hearing him speak for some time, I started to think that he wasn't really that bright, but he sure knew how to sound like he was smart.  He was rather adept at the skill of public speaking.

We all know that public speaking is a skill. Anyone who has done some public speaking should be rather familiar with that idea.  I'm sure just about everyone can come up with an example of someone they know who can't speak to save their life, but they might be scary smart.

The current and last president of the country are two examples of this articulate equals intelligent perception.  The popular media likes to portray Obama as some sort of genius, and Bush as some sort of neanderthal as mush for the ability to speak publicly as anything.  Interestingly, I am seeing comparisons being made of how similar the two are in some ways.  If we go purely by the ability to speak, we need to wonder if the two are even from the same planet.  Surely one has the skill to speak, and the other does not.

I guess I really wanted to post this because I imagine we will keep seeing this articulate equates to intelligent idea for a long time.  Just remember that someone with the skill to speak publicly might be a raging idiot.