In August 2008 Marc Hogan was bet £1 that he couldn’t become a stand up comic in less than 12 months and perform a one man comedy show at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in August 2009 for 21 nights. He won the bet!
Last week I highlighted 5 of President Obama’s favourite speaking techniques, but because 10 sounds doubly better than 5, here are 5 more.
6) The use of “We” and “Us”
Barack in various speeches rarely uses the word “I”. All throughout his campaign he used the word “we” or “Let us”. It creates empathy with the listeners and a feeling of togetherness. And it explains why “Yes we can” is so effective.
“Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us…
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.
I promise you, we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem.”
Obama also likes to use specific American places to add a strong personal touch and create even more of a feeling of inclusion.
“Our campaign…began in the back yard of Des Moines, and the living rooms of Concorde and the front porches all Charleston”. [Another tricolon]
7) Allusion
Notice how Obama uses allusion to compare America’s current economic situation to the 1930 depression.
Martin Luther King, Jr. also used this technique when he alluded to the Gettysburg Address in starting his “I Have a Dream” speech by saying “Five score years ago…”; listeners were immediately reminded of Abraham Lincoln’s “Four score and seven years ago”, which opened the Gettysburg Address. King’s allusion effectively called up parallels in two historic moments.
Obama used a similar technique in his victory speech, King’s famous phrase about how “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (Obama said that we will put our hands “on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.”)
When Obama warned that the road will be long, and that “we may not get there in one year or even one term, but America . . . I promise you – we as a people will get there,” the word “promise” surely alluded to, perhaps unconsciously, King’s last speech, in Memphis: “And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you.”
8 ) The Refrain & Inflection
Obama’s “Yes we can” refrain is also a technique that is often heard in pop songs, but in speeches it has the effect of generating response potential! By the final use, he follows it with a raise in volume and the use of a downward voice inflection which generates applause.
9) The Puzzle Introduction
“And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady Michelle Obama.”
This is the favoured technique of presenters when introducing guest stars. It can also be used when introducing someone to the stage and because you reveal the name at the end, it automatically generates applause.
The trick is not to make the clues so hard that everyone is still trying to figure out who you are talking about when you introduce them. The second or third clue should begin to give it away!
10) The Play On Words
This is a favourite of so many great speakers by changing the meaning of the word
“Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” John F Kennedy
“We have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States, of America.” Barack Obama
In his book On the Orator, Cicero argued that real eloquence can only be acquired if the speaker has attained the highest level of knowledge, “otherwise what he says is just an empty and ridiculous swirl of verbiage”. Or as we would call it, Empty Rhetoric.
Whether you’re president of the United States, a manager or a salesperson, it’s always good to remember that no matter how eloquent you are, “deeds not words” are what finally count.
Click here to watch Marc’s showreel. If you would like to find out more about Marc, visit www.marchoganlive.com or to book him for a speaking event please contact your favourite speaker bureau.
