As a newly minted Washingtonian, I stood in my warm coat and waived my American flag among a cheering crowd on the National Mall yesterday. As a teacher of public speaking, I listened to President Obama’s second inaugural address and was struck by one particular rhetorical technique from which we can learn.
Regardless of where you stand on the politics of the speech, let’s take a look at how the President used the power of connection. By connecting the message of our speech with powerful, collective experiences and ideas shared by our audience, each of use can add urgency, perspective, and depth to our speeches.
Connecting Past and Present
The President opened his speech by quoting the Declaration of Independence, connecting the work our forefathers began to the work which we continue today.
He started by recalling the past:
- “Our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago,”
- “Lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared,”
- “We, the people,” (a phrase he repeated five times).
He then connected past with present:
- “Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time,”
- “Fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges,”
- “That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American.”
He then connected present with future:
- “Today’s victories will be only partial…it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.”
Now, having imbued us with a sense of collective purpose, he created urgency:
- “We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.”
- “Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.”
- “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it — so long as we seize it together.”
Connection through Contrast
Having created a connection between an historic time in our nation’s past and this momentous occasion in our nation’s present, he used contrast and plays on words to connect the dots in new ways, mostly focused on connecting the individual to the nation as a whole:
- “While these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing,”
- “While freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth,”
- “Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”
Interestingly enough, the president only used the word “I” at the very end of the speech, and he used it to connect himself with the nation:
- “The words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty,”
- “You and I, as citizens,” (repeated twice) with “common effort and common purpose.”
From Prose to Poetry
Following the President’s address, poet Richard Blanco continued this theme of connecting the individual with the nation in his poem One Today, painting a very personal picture that resonated with many (italics below are my own):
- “One sun rose on us today,”
- “One ground. Our ground,”
- “One wind – our breath,”
- “We head home…under one sky, our sky.”
- Most strikingly, the poem began with the word “one” and ended with the word “together.”
I pondered this idea of many individuals, connected together in past and present – especially as I made my way through the crowd after the Inauguration Ceremony in our nation’s Capital. I thought about my personal place in it, as a recent newcomer who had the honor of performing American folk songs for friends and former classmates at the Harvard-Princeton Inaugural Ball just a few days before.
And later on, as I stood together with another cheering crowed waiting for the President to appear at the Commander in Chief’s Inaugural Ball, I noticed the seal of the President displayed on the stage. I saw the words “e pluribus unum” written above the eagle, and the sense of connection I felt was stronger than ever.
I love the perspective that you give to this speech. By looking at the words in a different way, the words have more meaning and I am able to really hear the message the President is trying to convey.
Thanks so much, Becky!
Good day! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely
enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
It’s difficult to find well-informed people in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Louisville Air Conditioning Repair – my twitter handle is @AllisonShapira
Nike Huarache Free 2012 – I don’t normally do this, but thanks for asking
I am extremely impressed with your writing skills
as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme
or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the
nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this
one nowadays.
http://fanwen8.org
Its such as you read my thoughts! You appear to grasp so
much about this, such as you wrote the book in it or
something. I think that you simply can do with a few p.c.
to power the message home a bit, however other than that, this is wonderful blog.
A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back.
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just
wondering if you get a lot of spam remarks? If so how do
you reduce it, any plugin or anything you can suggest?
I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any support is very much appreciated.
I seriously love your website.. Very nice colors & theme.
Did you create this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m planning
to create my own blog and would like to learn where
you got this from or what the theme is called. Thank you!
Thanks for the comments, everyone. For those asking about the site: I created it using a simple and elegant theme on WordPress.
I hardly drop remarks, but i did a few searching and wound up here A lesson in rhetoric from President Obama | Allison Shapira,
Global Public Speaking LLC. And I actually do have 2 questions for you if you tend not to mind.
Could it be just me or does it look like a few of the remarks appear like they are left by brain dead folks?
😛 And, if you are writing on additional online sites, I’d like
to keep up with anything new you have to post. Would
you list of every one of your communal pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
Thanks for the note, you can find me at @AllisonShapira on Twitter or on Facebook.
Just wish to say your article is as astonishing.
The clearness in your post is simply cool and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please keep up the rewarding work.
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to shoot you an email.
I’ve got some suggestions for your blog you might be
interested in hearing. Either way, great website and I look
forward to seeing it expand over time.
This site was… how do I say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found something that helped me.
Thank you!
Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break.
I love the information you provide here and can’t wait to
take a look when I get home. I’m shocked at how fast your
blog loaded on my mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
Anyways, awesome blog!
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say thatt I have truly enjoyed surfing around
your blpog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing to your
feed and I hopee you write again very soon!
That is a really good tip particularly to those fresh to the blogosphere.
Short but very precise information… Thank you for sharing this one.
A must read article!
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found
that it is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels.
I’ll appreciate if you continue this in future. A lot of people will be
benefited from your writing. Cheers!
Hi everyone, it’s my first visit at this website, and article is truly fruitful in favor of me,
keep up posting these types of content.
I blog quite often and I really appreciate your information. The
article has really peaked my interest. I’m going to bookmark your site and
keep checking for new details about once a week. I subscribed to your
Feed too.
Great article. I will be facing a few of these issues as well..
Have you ever considered publishing an e-book or
guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based on the same subjects you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would appreciate your work.
If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me
an email.
This is the right blog for everyone who hopes to find out about this topic.
You understand so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I personally would want to…HaHa).
You definitely put a new spin on a subject which has
been written about for a long time. Great stuff, just great!
Stunning story there. What happened after?
Good luck!
Everything published was very reasonable. But, what about
this? suppose you added a little information? I am not saying your information isn’t solid,
however what if you added a headline that grabbed a person’s attention? I mean A lesson in rhetoric from President Obama | Allison Shapira,
Global Public Speaking LLC is kinda vanilla. You might peek
at Yahoo’s home page and see how they create article headlines to get viewers to open the links.
You might try adding a video or a related pic or two to get readers interested about what you’ve written. Just my opinion, it could bring your posts a little bit more interesting.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide
credit and sources back to your website? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would definitely benefit
from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if
this ok with you. Thank you!
Absolutely, thank you.
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Thanks
Absolutely, thank you.
First of all I want to say excellent blog! I had a quick question in which I’d like to
ask if you do not mind. I was curious to know how you center yourself and clear your mind
prior to writing. I have had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts
out there. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10
to 15 minutes tend to be lost simply just trying to
figure out how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Many thanks!
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to mention that I have
really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing for your feed and I’m hoping
you write once more very soon!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something
that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad
for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try
to get the hang of it!
Great post. I was checking constantly this weblog and I amm impressed!
Very useful info specially thee final section 🙂 I take care
of such info a lot. I used to be seeking this certain info for
a very lengthy time. Thanks and best of luck.
I appreciate the positive and inclusive community you have built around your blog.