Senator Obama talks about race and racism in America. Will laying down a few home truths garner him more support or less?
March 21st, 2008
Comments:1 Comment Category: Essential Speechwriter
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Colin,
Thanks for the post!
I’ve been throwing around the question myself of whether the next president needs to be eloquent or not. The conclusion I have come to is that I don’t think that the idea of character and eloquence are mutually exclusive.
It seems that a false dichotomy is often created between someone who is eloquent (supposedly slippery) and someone who is a “simple and straight-shooter” (supposedly honest and a sign of character).
John McCain is definitely playing up this second dichotomy, as did George W. Bush’s first campaign in 2000. Of course, this “straight-talk” is just another style of public speaking.
Instead of buying into this false dichotomy, I would say that the audience of a speech is a fairly good judge of character, whatever style it was given in.
As a public speaking coach / trainer, I present frequently and coach others on their presentations. Hence, I am constantly observing the interplay between presenters and audiences.
I find that most audiences form accurate general impressions of a speaker, though they may not be able to articulate the behaviors and techniques that led them to form that impression. After all, we’ve all spent a good portion of our lives gaging the truthfulness of the people with whom we interact.
In his book, “Strangers to Ourselves,” Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia notes that the brain can absorb about 11 million pieces of information a second, of which it can process about 40 consciously. The unconscious brain handles the rest.
Our unconscious brains are gathering up thousands of subtle signals from the speakers that we observe regularly and forming general impressions such as, “He’s lying.” or “She’s arrogant.”
In this election in particular, the President’s ability to inspire the American people is critical. Our economy is weakened, our federal debt is growing, and our national infrastructure (schools, roads, ****) is falling apart. The Iraq war is sapping our federal and state programs with it’s huge costs. Health care costs are soaring and beginning to cripple middle class Americans and small businesses. Climate change threatens the delicate balance of the ecosystem and our national dependence on oil has made us vulnerable to terrorist attack while funding the very nations that host the terrorists. Meanwhile, the good will we enjoyed after Sept. 11 has been completely squandered and our foreign polity is universally criticized or detested abroad.
The current president never asked Americans to sacrifice anything to pay for the war in Iraq. Now, we are beginning to pay the price because other programs have been neglected while the war has sucked up trillions of dollars.
Can one person solve all these problems and manufacture the political will to get things done? No. No president alone can do this. They need the support and participation of the entire nation, just as FDR needed the support of the American people throughout the Depression and WWII.
Who is the appropriate candidate to lead us forward? One who can inspire the American people to take part in the recovery of our nation. As JFK said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
“This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.“
MLK Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
These were all just “words” … but what powerful words!
Our next president needs to speak the truth, tell us we need to participate, and inspire us with hope.
Who does that sound like but Barrack Obama?
May 21st, 2008 at 5:23 pm