the blog

Every 4 years, I dust off and update my special presentation, Pennsylvania Ave. to Wall St.: The Best Communicator & Connector Wins (or Main St. or Silicon Valley, etc. – clients’ choice). I do it to show corporate audiences how the candidates for president use persuasion techniques to win votes and how business people can use the same techniques to win business.

So I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the reaction to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s recent speech on the House floor. Now, to appreciate and learn from the techniques she used, you have to leave your politics at the door.

Ok?

Ok, here they are…

First, it was under 10 minutes. She was given an hour. That’s one way to exceed expectations – to be given significant time to speak, then making it much shorter. Also it is hard to be short and succinct, while staying compelling – it’s much easier to speak for longer. When I did my TEDx earlier this year, I had 12 minutes. It took me a long time and a lot of work to get it right. So start thinking about how you can keep remarks short as well as engaging.

Second, it was very personal. She let us in a bit by telling us some things about herself, such as having had past jobs as a waiter and bartender. She told us a little about her parents and their expectations of her. These personal stories enable us to connect with her. She is now a member of Congress. So it’s aspirational, gives us hope that if she can do it, we can do it. Sharing some of your struggles is an excellent way to develop followership. No one lives a perfect life.

Third, this was a fairly formal speech and so she was able to utilize some fairly formal rhetorical techniques including repetition of a word or phrase to emphasize an idea and add rhythm to a speech. There are technical names for these techniques and have been famously used by Martin Luther King in his I Have a Dream speech and by Winston Churchill in his We Shall Fight speech. Not surprisingly, AOC used this technique more loosely. which is fitting for her, but it was just as effective.

Finally, her delivery – it was calm and deliberate. Her rate of speech was about 130 words per minute, which is good, moderate rate, giving people time to digest what she was saying. She used notes, which I always advise, and referred to them when she needed to, taking her time while glancing down, not using uhs and ums or other filler to fill the silence during those transitions. Instead, she was quiet. This  demonstrated a level of control and projected confidence.

These are just a few of the things AOC did that made for a successful speech – whether you agree with her or not. That isn’t my point. Here’s what is: Her ability to communicate has clearly opened doors for her, gotten people to pay attention. I guarantee if you get better at this it will do the same for you.