If the Turnbull government takes one thing away from Australia's special summit with Southeast Asian leaders hopefully it's a lesson from some Indonesian politicians on public speaking.
The three-day ASEAN-Australia talkfest wrapped up in Sydney on Sunday devoid of any substantial outcomes.
It was billed as a mammoth diplomatic coup in the lead-up, to get nine out of 10 leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to show up for a series of meetings with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
The ASEAN club counts as members countries with less than shiny human rights records, including Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
This fact seemed to induce a high level of anxiety on the Australian side, resulting in a rather over the top, risk-averse media management policy.
The majority of sessions were held at arm's length from journalists cooped up in a media centre. Live broadcasts of speeches and discussions were limited.
The summit actually had a good story to tell, particularly when it comes to growing economic links.
A who's who of Australian chief executive officers participated in a business forum with Asian counterparts, but the media was mostly barred from listening to their insights.
Mr Turnbull and other ministers' speeches were generally dry, filled with buzz words, motherhood statements and platitudes.
So in this context, it was a breath of fresh air when Indonesian President Joko Widodo injected a bit of razzle-dazzle into a business lunch while speaking alongside Mr Turnbull.
Delivering a rare speech in English, his third language, Mr Widodo reflected on the crazy state of global politics amid a Donald Trump White House, Brexit and North Korean rockets.
"We politicians now have to compete against Netflix to get your attention. Since the arrival of Netflix, we politicians have no choice but to turn politics into reality TV because if we don't, all of you will watch House of Cards and Stranger Things instead of watching us," Mr Widodo said, while making an underlying point about the digital revolution under way in Southeast Asia.
He also mulled over how the selfie has changed the world, describing Yogyakarta's "Instagram park" where people stand in line for hours for the chance to take the perfect selfie.
Thomas Lembong, who heads up Mr Widodo's Investment Coordinating Board, also had some sage advice.
The Harvard-educated former trade minister offered up an antidote to rising trade protectionist sentiment across the world.
He noted surveys show while people are sceptical about free trade agreements, they generally support free trade.
He said people actually like their cheap goods from China, their fresh fruit from Australia and opportunities to travel that stem from air service agreements.
"My theory is people just don't like us (trade ministers) because the way we talk is so weird. We don't sound like real people," Mr Lembong told an audience of business leaders at the summit.
"One thing I'm going around the world preaching is 'We've got to start talking like real people, not like aliens from Mars who are very stiff, technocratic and arrogant."
