Say it Like Obama |

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 will go down as a monumental day in American history, when America elected an African American to serve as its president. What enabled Senator Barack Obama to tear down traditional barriers of race and ethnicity, to become such a historic figure? There were two key factors. His outstanding communication abilities, which enabled him to garner support from one of the most diverse coalitions in American history; and his excellent ability to launch and lead a formidable organization—he exhibited leadership and managerial skills of the highest order. I elaborate here on his tremendous communicative power.

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Here are blogs that feature my new book Say It Like Obama

http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/work_matters/2008/10/the-power-of-rhetoric.html

http://blogs.rep-am.com/onthenet/?p=54

In my recently-published book, Say It Like Obama: the Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision (McGraw Hill, 2008 - www.sayitlikeobama.com), I highlight the many communication practices that have enabled Senator Barack Obama to convey his vision and ideas with great effectiveness—in compelling ways that have enabled him to reach out and unite people across traditional barriers of race, ethnicity, region, religion, economics, age and gender. The communicative power of Barack Obama has enabled him to garner impressive levels of support, and helped bring about a significant endorsement today.

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Verdict: This book admirably highlights Senator Obama’s rhetorical techniques for readers looking to hone their own speaking skills. Given the excitement surrounding Obama’s campaign and his oratory, this should prove to be a popular title for both general readers and those professionally engaged in presentations. Recommended for all collections.

Background: Leanne (How To Interview Like a Top MBA), formerly on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, offers a timely examination of the rhetorical skills of Senator Barack Obama to show how readers can adopt his methods for persuasive speaking. Book-ended by a transcript of Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address and his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the text parses Obama’s methods, demonstrating how he adroitly conveys his messages with examples from his current campaign and his U.S. Senate career. The author clarifies how the reader can employ these same methods of persuasion and presentation, including body language and use of pauses as well as actual word choice

In my FastCompany.com blog entry entitled, “McCain’s October 15, 2008 Debate Performance: The Top Four Ways He Can Improve,” I discussed ways McCain can improve his communication delivery.  The question remains: how do I rate McCain as a speaker overall?

In my book, Say It Like Obama: the Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision (McGraw Hill, 2008 - www.sayitlikeobama.com), I highlight the many techniques and practices that can enable speakers to use oration as a powerful tool. When reviewing the range of practices available and assessing McCain from the vantage point of those “best practices,” it is clear that oration is not McCain’s strength.

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Why do 58% of respondents in the October 15, 2008 CNN poll think that Senator Barack Obama won the third presidential debate held that same day with Senator John McCain?

In my book, Say It Like Obama: the Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision (McGraw Hill, 2008 - www.sayitlikeobama.com), I highlight the many techniques and practices that can enable speakers to use oration as a powerful tool. In the October 15 debate, Senator Obama did many things right. But more importantly, McCain did enough things wrong that he failed to sway voters during the debate. Here are four top ways McCain could have improved his performance:

First, McCain blinks an awful lot. It is not clear to me if there is a physical reason for this, but many people have (fortunately or unfortunately) been taught to believe that when people lie, they blink their eyes more than normal. Rapidly blinking eyes send a negative impression, similar to when someone displays “shifty eyes” or refuses to look others in the eyes. This was one of the most striking performance differences between the two presidential candidates, and one that—though it may sound small—can have profound influence on the perceptions formed among viewers. Take a look at the footage again—you will see what I mean.

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In my recently published book, Say It Like Obama: The Power of Speaking With Purpose and Vision (McGraw-Hill, October 2008), I analyze for readers the key practices that have enabled Barack Obama to emerge as one of the most effective and powerful orators in a political generation. Obama’s techniques and best practices can clearly be employed with great effect through speeches and prepared remarks. Some people have wondered whether we can employ those same best practices during extemporaneous speaking. To borrow a phrase from Obama—“Yes we can!” Senator Joe Biden showed this brilliantly with his outstanding debate performance at the vice presidential debate of October 2, 2008.

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With the U.S. presidential election a little over four weeks away, great attention is currently focused on the presidential debate performances of the two major party nominees—Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain. The two participated in their first presidential debate on Friday, September 26, 2008. Some pundits questioned whether Barack Obama could perform well enough, given the belief among some parties that he is a world-class orator when delivering speeches, but less strong when debating. How did he do? Obama performed excellently, with initial polling seeming to indicate that support has shifted in his favor. In particular, Obama displayed four areas of strength from which leaders in all fields can learn:

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Whether one is Republican, Democrat or Independent, most people agree that Barack Obama is a master of highly effective communication. In Say It Like Obama: the Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision (www.sayitlikeobama.com), I examine many of the best practices that have helped make Obama an outstanding communicator. Yesterday, Barack Obama provided another useful example for our consideration. Before the press, he issued comments in response to the news that Senator John McCain would suspend his campaign and in response to McCain’s suggestion that the presidential debates scheduled for Friday, September 26, 2008 should be postponed. For leaders seeking to improve their own communication skills, it is worth considering at least five practices that made Obama’s comments of September 24 effective.

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According to Senator Barack Obama, he was not informed about Senator John McCain’s dual decisions to “suspend his campaign” and to suggest that the presidential debates scheduled for Friday, September 26, 2008 be postponed. In light of the unanticipated news, Obama issued remarks before the media. Several things made his pronouncements effective.

Obama delivered his remarks in a formal setting, in business attire, looking “very presidential.” He spoke with assuredness and confidence, which no doubt helped to instill confidence among listeners. He stressed his commitment to nonpartisanship as he seeks to address the prevailing American economic crisis, underscoring a sense of strong ethics as he stated “partisan politics” should be cast aside when addressing the crisis. Obama stressed his desire to issue a joint statement with McCain to “send a strong signal,” encouraging Congress to take decisive action to address the economic crisis. He spoke with emphatic determination when indicating he intended to lead members in the Senate to take effective action. His tone and countenance gave the impression he would be an effective leader in this regard.

Obama’s choice to vet questions at the end of his remarks conveyed his confidence about his knowledge of the issues and his certitude about his choices. When asked whether he should be in Washington to focus exclusively on legislation aimed at addressing the economic crisis, Obama stated emphatically, “I am prepared to be anywhere at any time” as needed to help resolve the crisis, but that “presidents are going to need to deal with more than one thing at one time.” In other words, he would not suspend his campaign. Many Americans may be prone to agree-a U.S. president must be able to address multiple problems simultaneously. Obama likely scored many points when indicating that he has the capacity to do this.

Obama also insisted that he and McCain must “present themselves” to the American people in the September 26 debates, so that Americans can hear their ideas and understand where each would like to take the country, economically and otherwise. In indicating he was ready and eager to do this, Obama conveyed confidence in his ability to present himself before the American people and to vet hard questions about economic issues. He projected himself as a confident leader.