Michelle Obama is receiving lots of praise for her speech on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention. There’s even a growing body of analysis of what made the speech work – so we thought we’d contribute.
- Michelle Obama’s speech – unlike most in today’s world – had a beginning, middle and an end.
- It told a story. It took the audience by the hand and brought the audience along for a stroll.
- It had an opening device. The use of the Obama children as a symbol of the challenges and successes of the nation worked.
- It made strong points about character and principles which tended to support specific policies without mentioning or explaining those policies by name or in detail.
- The performance was well executed – like a singer delivering a song rather than a speaker reading words off a page.
- There was no obvious effort to write in applause lines. Even if the audience had simply listened to the entire speech without ever interrupting with applause, the speech would have been a success.
It was written to be listened to not to provoke immediate reaction.
And those are some of the reasons it worked.
