By Frank Nolan, Staff Writer, Emerson College
One can only imagine the feeling of walking onto a stage with thousands, or even millions, watching your every move. With such scrutiny, there is no room for error, especially when a presidential campaign is on the line. Because of this, public speaking and speech writing now involves an enormous amount of preparation. Entire careers are devoted to crafting speech. Writers write dozens of drafts, analysts go over what points will hit home with certain voting demographics, and editors mindlessly drone over grammar and spelling. It’s as if public speaking, particularly in politics, has become a science—one filled with endless amounts of jargon and carefulness.
On May 13th, 2008, although it was essentially impossible for her to become the presidential nominee, as she was falling far behind Senator Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia Democratic primary election and gave a victory speech later that night. This lazy, apathetic, strained effort embodies all that is wrong with modern political public speaking. She started off with an unbelievably cheesy John Denver reference about how West Virginia is “almost heaven.” Then, in an obvious appeasement to the hostility her crowd showed towards Obama, she expressed her refusal to give up and support him, even though the last thing the Democrats needed was a drawn out, pugnacious primary. She said “They are some who have wanted to cut this race short. They say ‘give up. It’s too hard. The mountain is too high.’ But here in West Virginia, you know a thing or two about rough roads to the top of the mountain! We know from the bible that faith can move mountains, and my friends, the faith of the Mountain State has moved me!”
Hillary continued the twenty-minute speech with the typical campaign terms like living in a America that “rewards hard work” and “values the middle class.” Along with the hackneyed diction of her speech, Hillary simply appeared to be bored, uninterested, and self-fulfilling. She forced her smiles, tried to appeal to her base’s hatred of Obama, and spoke for too long. The authenticity, interest, and passion was just not there. Her speech came off as a chore, not an example of civic engagement and public service.
Modern political speech has become stand up comedy on steroids. The candidate will walk up to the podium, accompanied by explosive applause and loud music. Everybody is excited. Everybody is focused on winning. The candidate will go on to tell a few jokes before indulging in their trivial banter about why the other guy has it wrong, and why, if we make the right decision, our guy will fix the country. Throw in a few one liners, and that’s an entire political speech. The urgency and passion that Hillary lacked in her speech is common. Instead, what we find in contemporary political public speaking is a vicious cycle of narcissism and appeasement that makes a mockery of the entire process.
On May 13th, 2008, although it was essentially impossible for her to become the presidential nominee, as she was falling far behind Senator Obama, Senator Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia Democratic primary election and gave a victory speech later that night. This lazy, apathetic, strained effort embodies all that is wrong with modern political public speaking. She started off with an unbelievably cheesy John Denver reference about how West Virginia is “almost heaven.” Then, in an obvious appeasement to the hostility her crowd showed towards Obama, she expressed her refusal to give up and support him, even though the last thing the Democrats needed was a drawn out, pugnacious primary. She said “They are some who have wanted to cut this race short. They say ‘give up. It’s too hard. The mountain is too high.’ But here in West Virginia, you know a thing or two about rough roads to the top of the mountain! We know from the bible that faith can move mountains, and my friends, the faith of the Mountain State has moved me!”
Hillary continued the twenty-minute speech with the typical campaign terms like living in a America that “rewards hard work” and “values the middle class.” Along with the hackneyed diction of her speech, Hillary simply appeared to be bored, uninterested, and self-fulfilling. She forced her smiles, tried to appeal to her base’s hatred of Obama, and spoke for too long. The authenticity, interest, and passion was just not there. Her speech came off as a chore, not an example of civic engagement and public service.
Modern political speech has become stand up comedy on steroids. The candidate will walk up to the podium, accompanied by explosive applause and loud music. Everybody is excited. Everybody is focused on winning. The candidate will go on to tell a few jokes before indulging in their trivial banter about why the other guy has it wrong, and why, if we make the right decision, our guy will fix the country. Throw in a few one liners, and that’s an entire political speech. The urgency and passion that Hillary lacked in her speech is common. Instead, what we find in contemporary political public speaking is a vicious cycle of narcissism and appeasement that makes a mockery of the entire process.
The famous story of Narcissus is about a Greek boy who was so obsessed with his image that every day he would gaze into his reflection in a lake. One day, however, he bent too far, and fell into the lake and drowned. With public speaking today, the gazing is not only not condemned, but encouraged. And there are, of course, no consequences.
It’s as if the speaker too is looking into the lake. Instead of focusing on how their message is coming across, they are too busy concentrating on smiling and maintaining an acceptable posture. Instead of truly speaking to the audience and telling them something worth hearing, they are just appealing to the audience's biases and irreparable stubbornness. After all the preparation, the message that they are relaying to the world is no longer a message, but an echo of pop culture politics.
The Gettysburg Address, which I consider to be the greatest speech ever given, was 272 words long. But in that speech, Lincoln not only comforted a deeply wounded nation and honored those who gave their lives in that horrible war, but he outlined a future reliant upon unity and perseverance. He gave the people a concrete message, one which he had fought so hard for. He had a stake in the battle. He had conviction. That is what is lost today.
Politicians today have no skin in the game. Their checks are already in the mail. Their future is not reliant upon any sort of message or collective action. They just do not care. Instead of giving a speech with substance and conviction, they decide to play it safe and fill the ears of decided voters with recycled paragraphs of political crap.
Maybe the death of great public speaking is because the world isn’t as black and white as it once was. President Obama doesn’t have the luxury of condemning slavery or vying for the preservation of the Union. Things are more complex now. The bad guys aren't as easy to spot, and it’s more difficult to convince a mass audience to take action.
But when somebody takes the stage, they are supposed to care what they are talking about. No matter what it is, it should matter, and they should be personally invested in it. They should think “If I do a good job with this speech, I could help change the world,” not “If I give an entertaining speech, people will remember my name.”
If politicians better realize the importance and magnitude of their platform, maybe they will take it seriously. Maybe they won’t waste our time with the same cheesy phrases. Maybe they’ll say something that we’ll remember for how powerful it was, instead of how hilarious or feisty it was. Maybe they’ll change our minds about a hotly debated issue. If only they weren’t just interested in furthering their careers. If only they cared. If only they would try.
It’s as if the speaker too is looking into the lake. Instead of focusing on how their message is coming across, they are too busy concentrating on smiling and maintaining an acceptable posture. Instead of truly speaking to the audience and telling them something worth hearing, they are just appealing to the audience's biases and irreparable stubbornness. After all the preparation, the message that they are relaying to the world is no longer a message, but an echo of pop culture politics.
The Gettysburg Address, which I consider to be the greatest speech ever given, was 272 words long. But in that speech, Lincoln not only comforted a deeply wounded nation and honored those who gave their lives in that horrible war, but he outlined a future reliant upon unity and perseverance. He gave the people a concrete message, one which he had fought so hard for. He had a stake in the battle. He had conviction. That is what is lost today.
Politicians today have no skin in the game. Their checks are already in the mail. Their future is not reliant upon any sort of message or collective action. They just do not care. Instead of giving a speech with substance and conviction, they decide to play it safe and fill the ears of decided voters with recycled paragraphs of political crap.
Maybe the death of great public speaking is because the world isn’t as black and white as it once was. President Obama doesn’t have the luxury of condemning slavery or vying for the preservation of the Union. Things are more complex now. The bad guys aren't as easy to spot, and it’s more difficult to convince a mass audience to take action.
But when somebody takes the stage, they are supposed to care what they are talking about. No matter what it is, it should matter, and they should be personally invested in it. They should think “If I do a good job with this speech, I could help change the world,” not “If I give an entertaining speech, people will remember my name.”
If politicians better realize the importance and magnitude of their platform, maybe they will take it seriously. Maybe they won’t waste our time with the same cheesy phrases. Maybe they’ll say something that we’ll remember for how powerful it was, instead of how hilarious or feisty it was. Maybe they’ll change our minds about a hotly debated issue. If only they weren’t just interested in furthering their careers. If only they cared. If only they would try.
Frank Nolan is a sophomore Political Communication major from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He loves old movies and Italian food. 75% Irish, 100% American.
Images: nydailynews, wikipedia
Images: nydailynews, wikipedia