The arc of President Obama’s political career illustrates how public speaking can become a tool of overwhelming power. Nowhere was this clearer than at his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Background
In 2004, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry decided that the obscure senator would give the Democratic National Convention keynote speech. Obama’s speech electrified the crowd and national political pundits. They anointed him a political star and speculated on his bright future.
By 2005, Obama was a US senator. By 2008, he was president. Regardless of your opinion of him, his speech undisputably propelled him forward.
This was not a speech hastily drafted on a living room floor: Obama had clearly studied the techniques for effective public speaking. His 2004 speech substituted his normal caution with soaring rhetoric.
Obama’s rhetorical techniques can work for you too, even if you are giving a corporate speech. Even in business, you can use rhetoric to communicate, captivate, and command.
Let us examine some of Obama’s rhetorical devices, focusing on synecdoche, antithesis, and ethos.
Excerpt from the Obama speech:
Now don’t get me wrong. The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach our kids to learn. They know that parents have to teach, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know those things. People don’t expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice… For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga.
Rhetorical Techniques.
Synecdoche:
This occurs when a part is substituted for the whole. Notice in the second sentence, Obama says:
The people I meet in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks, they don’t expect government to solve all their problems.
He did not say, “People in different parts of the United States agree that the government can’t solve all their problems.” Instead, he referenced “small towns” and “big cities”. And he even broke those down into “diners and office parks.”
Through the synecdoche, he moved us into sensory detail. You can envision the steel painted diner in a small town and the large suburban concrete office park in a suburb or exurb. Had he used the banal “people in different parts of the United States”, he would lost the power of this visceral imagery.
Antithesis:
Antithesis occurs when we put two contrasting ideas close together. Obama juxtaposed opposites: small town residents in diners, and suburban residents in office buildings; people in suburban “collar counties” and in inner city neighborhoods.
He cleverly noted that despite different environments, Americans shared the same concerns. In other words, the polarity was on the surface; unity was the underlying reality.
Ethos and Credibility:
By carefully referencing different socio-economic areas of the United States, Obama established credibility. Obama implied that he had some unique quality that allowed him to move fluidly within different socio-economic circles for the information in his speech. Considering this oblique but clear reference to his own singularity, is it any wonder that people began to speculate excitedly on his political future after the speech?
Audience Awareness
In the Ethics, Aristotle considers that different audience will be convinced by different kinds of discourse. Consider that convention-goers were likely older and more prosperous. Obama was packaging the field reports from other socio-economic groups in a way that they would be willing to hear– not through colloquialisms, but through a graceful but accessible vocabulary. Consider that the very same message would have to have been made differently to 20-something campaign workers in the field or to 60-something Democratic political operatives. The same applies to you: you will need to speak differently to young professionals than you would to established executives.
Take Away
These are not arcane, impractical tools: you can use them as a business leader to persuade. Suppose that you want to motivate your employees to help the company grow so that earnings go up. You want to instill a sense of camaraderie. You could say, “We need to work together as a team, all of us, to see that the company grows. We will all benefit.”
Or could you try this, pointing to different members of the audience as you speak:
“I know you, and from the small copy room with prefabricated desk to the large board room with oak tables, our success allows him to purchase his first home and her to plan her investment portfolio; her ability to begin a family and his ability to have a comfortable and happy retirement. Wherever you are in your journey with us, realize that my success and all our success is always your success. And your success is ours too.
In the above, I used all the rhetorical techniques we discussed. And such a speech would appeal to a range of employees — from the 30-something looking at a first home to the 60-something anticipating retirement. They would see their interests aligning with your vision; just like Obama did in 2004.
I repeat that great speaking ability can be learned. In ancient Athens, leading citizens and politicians hired rhetoric teachers to help them when they gave important public speeches. If you want to use these tools to move your career forward, as Obama did in 2004, I can help you.
