State of the Union - Judging a Book By Its Cover

From Gene Healy in the Washington Examiner (here):

for most of the Republic's first century, the [State of the Union] was a modest, informational affair. Presidents sent the written address to Congress, to be read aloud by a clerk. That was thanks to President Jefferson, who thought delivering the speech before Congress assembled smacked too much of a king's "Speech from the Throne."

So, if voters weren't judging their Presidents on their ability to deliver words from a teleprompter, what were they judging them on?