With the US presidential campaign under way once again, we are about to hear, see, and read in our media what central figures like Hillary Clinton say to motivate and inspire the electorate to support them. Today, as in other times, there are many great speakers both inside and outside the United States, but we have delved into history and picked John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, to examine how he developed his skills and what lessons we can learn from his experience.
Aristotle, in his ‘Rhetoric’, tends to give the ‘grand’ style the edge over the more ‘forensic’ approach in political communication. Political rhetoric, as Aristotle calls it, concerns the future; it concerns the benefits or harm of a proposal and it exhorts or dissuades. Aristotle tells us in his ‘Rhetoric’ that deliberative rhetoric “always advises about things to come”. It is about the future and persuasion. It is about what we should choose or what we should avoid; the possible and the impossible.
“The political orator aims at establishing the expediency or the harmfulness of a proposed course of action; if he urges its acceptance, he does so on the grounds that it will do good; if he urges its rejection, he does so on the grounds that it will do harm; and all the other points, such as whether the proposal is just or not, honorable or dishonorable, he brings in as subsidiary and relative to this main consideration”.
Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book 1, Chapter 3
Our profile emphasises six principal issues that apparently helped Kennedy, and I think will help us in our aspiration to be inspirational speakers.
- Receiving constant balanced feedback on delivery style and content
- Expanding our networking, based on our interpersonal skills
- Developing TV interviewing skills, especially the use of our personality in our manner of speaking
- Knowing what inspires audiences and how to construct our messages
- Finding an outlet for practice and then practice, practice and practice
- Developing a strong work ethic: nothing is achieved without hard work
Yes, Aristotle would agree with you
It is about knowing what inspires audiences but also about being strong in your convictions, adding your personality, charisma and speaking speaking with authority.
In my opinion, the main point to be inspirational or persuasive is in ethos. And currently, this dimension of rhetoric is not strong enough in our politicians.