In his hometown of Chicago this week, Barack Obama delivered his victory speech after being re-elected as President of the United States of America. As with any Presidential victory speech there has been a myriad of analysis. I’ve done some of my own too.
What has always fascinated me about Obama is his leadership. In a blog I wrote four years ago I spoke of Obama as a shining example – making no excuses. Any reasonable person in his shoes would never have run for presidency back then. They would have said “I am too young, too inexperienced, too black for white people, too white for black people, too recently ex-Muslim, too open about my past drug use”.
Four years ago it was a neck to neck race with Hillary Clinton. This year, another neck to neck race. Four years ago Obama accepted his win inspiring a nation with “yes we can’. Four difficult years later his acceptance speech was again of great oratory but his message has changed.
It is evident America is divided. While he continues to speak of “an American family, and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people”, Obama’s rhetoric included realism. The theme has been consistent throughout the 2012 campaign – Hope, and moving forward.
The speech ticked all the boxes from my Mechanics of a Great Speech blog – a structured plan that spoke to the audience’s emotions and finished strong. Using inclusive language “you, the American family”, “you made your voice heard”, “you made a difference”, and including Story Telling drives home the message that Obama has listened and heard the American people. Telling the sad story of a father and his daughters battle with leukemia had provides duplicity. It appealed to the audiences’ emotions while reminding the country that his policies have created new health care opportunities. “nearly cost their family everything had it not been for healthcare reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care”.
Obama is leading a nation of 300 million. You may have 3, 300 or 3000. It doesn’t matter – you can use the same techniques as Obama to lead your people to better performance. Just don’t expect the same enthusiastic cheer when you mention their town by name!
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