If speaking in public has ever made you nervous, just imagine doing it in front of an actively hostile audience — one that you have to persuade to your way of thinking.
That was President Obama’s assignment last night in delivering his “jobs speech” before a nationally televised joint session of Congress. Politically speaking, it was mostly theater: the punditocracy bleating that this was a “make or break” moment (um, right, with more than a year to go before the election); the cameras panning over the partisan applause and lack thereof; the lack of truly new proposals. Practically speaking, it was about packaging, positioning and presentation — with a decided de-emphasis on politicizing the nation’s hobbled economy.
With that in mind, here’s an analysis of Obama’s speech, with a focus solely on the speech mechanics and forensics. This post will address politics only to the extent that they shaped the crafting and delivery of the speech.
Perhaps fortuitously, my Comcast cable box has been on the blink this week. High-speed Internet has performed fine, though, so I watched the streaming version of the speech on whitehouse.gov/live. This provided two major benefits: the review you’re reading comes relatively uncontaminated by exposure to the hyperbole of professional commentators; and the whitehouse.gov site provided accompanying visuals — helpfully re-inforcing what at times could be fairly abstract concepts.
Jobs Speech Purpose
Any speaker worth his or her 3×5 index cards knows you don’t just stride on up to the podium and riff. You begin with an objective in mind of just how you wish to change an audience. In this case there were two audiences: Congress and the American public. The purpose, however, was singular: get Congress to pass the Administration-proposed American Jobs Act.
Obama faces the inconvenient dilemma that one half of Congress seems bent on opposing him no matter what the proposal — an observation that many former Republican operatives confirm. Thus, his secondary appeal to the American people to pressure their congressional delegation.
This was pretty clever — Obama in essence said, “Look, this isn’t about my approval ratings, it’s about you and your neighbors’ jobs, so tell Congress to do their job and pass the legislation.” Rather than blame Congress directly, he’s said to the citizens, “these are the people you need to complain to.”
As the president put it, “The millions of Americans out of work right now don’t care about politics.” And even more to the point, “The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple, to put more people back to work.”
Setting the Premise for the American Jobs Act
The easiest way to gain support for your position in a speech is to identify with your audience. Establish common ground. On that score, the president’s speech acknowledged what almost every American adult knows: the compact that once guaranteed the American Dream has been broken.
Doing the right thing, acting with integrity and offering skills that create real value (as opposed to the phantom value that helped precipitate the financial crisis) are no longer a sure path to success. Many, if not most of us, have experienced this firsthand.
It used to be that, “If you did the right thing, anybody could make it in America,” the president said. As we’ve witnessed, that has not been the case in recent years. Corporate profits have soared while real wages have declined.
In acknowledging that most people are working harder and getting less, the speech showed empathy for the “middle class,” who are increasingly feeling squeezed and frustrated.
With viewers’ attention duly grabbed, the president was free to then outline the points of his plan — the dreaded “middle” in speechwriting where your risk of losing people multiplies.
Visuals – No “Death By PowerPoint”
I’ll leave it to others to debate the merits of President Obama’s proposals, which by his own admission were nothing new. He confronted and it would appear, de-fanged the most obvious counter-argument, that of funding: “There should be nothing controversial about this legislation … Everything in this bill will be paid for.”
From a presentation perspective though, I thought it was worth noting how that and other points were communicated not just verbally, but visually. Online viewers at whitehouse.gov saw the President speaking, and in split screen, graphics that illustrated key points.
One of the presentation graphics from Obama's jobs speech.
What I found intriguing was how clean and visually engaging the White House communications team managed to make these slides. Unlike most visual aids in political presentations, these were simple, elegant and easy to understand. They were uncluttered and presented only one idea per panel.
They showed a level of graphical professionalism taught in books like Presentation Zen, Slide:ology, and Before&After – but still all too rarely practiced in politics or in office presentations.
They were, I dare say, pretty stunning examples of effective design. They also met a major requirement of presentation graphics in explaining and re-inforcing the message without overshadowing the messenger — the presenter.
So, Did the Speech Succeed?
On its technical merits alone, I would rate this a successful speech. The purpose was made clear; the middle built a solid case using examples, statistics and stories, and was (mostly) unmuddled; the conclusion reminded Americans of their resilience in previous times of great national challenge. The president showed again his undeniable talent as a rhetorician.
But of course the ultimate test for Obama will be whether the jobs bill gets passed and accomplishes its advertised claim of jump-starting employment. One speech does not a successful second run for the presidency make. Americans have short attention spans and even shorter patience. Congressional Republicans have shown their extreme reluctance to practice the once-honored political tradition of bi-partisan compromise.
Will The People actually be moved by last night’s presentation to believe this jobs bill will provide a short-term fix to our economic woes? And if so, will they be motivated enough to support it, in their virtual and real communities as the President and his staff asked?
Time will tell.
Contact Your Elected Officals:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
Akweli Parker is the founder of Digital Delta Media, a communications consultancy near Philadelphia. Reach him at aparker (at) digitaldeltamedia.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @aparkerddm
