President Barack Obama has recently celebrated 100 days in office. It seems timely to review the skills that helped bring him to the world’s most powerful office. Obama combines the dual skills of an accomplished orator – he commands with his presentation skills whilst conveying thoughtful and well-constructed content.
Although the style and content of an Obama presentation may seem beyond most of us – we can, in fact, learn and apply much from observing this history making president. This piece will examine a little of both the content and style of his recent presentations – with a special focus on his inauguration speech.
Content.
The Canadian presenter and speech analyst, David Dlugan, identifies 5 key lessons from Obama’s inauguration speech.
- Start with a strong but simple speech outline
The speech uses a simple 6 part structure – thank you; an acknowledgment of the current economic situation; examples of how such crises have been addressed in the past; a note to cynics; the importance of the US being inclusive in a global sense; the solution lies within the American people - Craft impactful lines
Whilst the speech contained no immediate classics (eg, “I have a dream”; “we will fight on the beaches”, etc), there were some well crafted phrases. Early in the speech, Obama puts his stamp on his role by saying he will “begin again the remaking of America”. Later he positions his difference to the previous administration by saying that “what is required now is a new era of responsibility” - Employ the magic rule of three
The rule of three simply says that when discussing topics or issues – provide a set of three items or options. Writers and orators have been using this convention for centuries. It works. Obama used this on nearly 10 occasions in this speech alone. Early in the speech he referred to himself as being “humbled by the task … grateful for the trust … and … mindful of (previous) sacrifice”. Later he spoke of the need for Americans to “pick themselves up … dust themselves off … and begin again”. This last example also used a popular cultural phrase to build rapport Continue Reading…
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