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President Obama 2012 Victory Speech

President Obama crafts inspiring speeches through personal stories, humility, and inclusive language. He acknowledges political opponents and focuses on shared beliefs and responsibilities rather than differences. Through anecdotes about volunteers and an immigrant's daughter, Obama conveys hope for diverse Americans. He uses rhetorical devices like anaphora, metaphor, and epistrophe to build momentum and convince listeners through emotional climaxes.

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606 views6 pages

President Obama 2012 Victory Speech

President Obama crafts inspiring speeches through personal stories, humility, and inclusive language. He acknowledges political opponents and focuses on shared beliefs and responsibilities rather than differences. Through anecdotes about volunteers and an immigrant's daughter, Obama conveys hope for diverse Americans. He uses rhetorical devices like anaphora, metaphor, and epistrophe to build momentum and convince listeners through emotional climaxes.

Uploaded by

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Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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President Obamas manner of speech crafting and delivery, you will

notice that his speeches are often peppered heavily with stories and
personal anecdotes, gratitude and over-flowing humility, inspiration and
an amazing sense of intimacy, rallies for solidarity and empathy for
diversity.

1.Obamas Deep Sense of Humility


o President Obama displayed great magnanimity and humility as a
leader and fondly embraced his political rivals, Governor Mitt
Romney and Paul Ryan in the early moments of his victory speech.

o President Obama was quick to embrace and set aside their


differences and get to work to forward America.
o We may have battled fiercely, but its only because we love this
country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From
George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to
give back to America through public service and that is the legacy
that we honor and applaud tonight. In the weeks ahead, I also look
forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where
we can work together to move this country forward.
Winning the Cynics Over
o President Obama is human and every bit as fallible but he does not
deny his vulnerabilities by ignoring the cynics and skeptics or
bulldozing them down.
o He knows the cynics are quick to downplay the significance of the
campaigning efforts but President Obama shifts the focus not unto
himself nor the grandeur or might of his future Obama plans but, the
conviction and beliefs shared by the common people you will see
on the streets who are likewise involved in the campaigning efforts.
o Youll hear the determination in the voice of a young field
organizer
o Youll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer

Youll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse


o
o I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even
silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us
that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of
special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who
turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high

school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some


tiny county far away from home, youll discover something else.
Its about falling in love with Michelle too
o it is a firm recognition and appreciation to Michelle Obama as her
symbolic role of the spouse of the head of state of the USA. Of
course, not forgetting Obamas two teenage daughters, Sasha and
Malia, who made President Obama all the more endearing and
relatable as a father figure.
o Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I
have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love
with you, too, as our nations first lady.sasha and Malia, before our
very eyes youre growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful
young women, just like your mom.
Obama Style with a dash of humor
o Humor has the amazing effect of bringing down the cold and high
walls between your audience and you as a speaker and instantly
win them over so they have a solid listening for you.
o And Im so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now one dogs
probably enough.
This simple but humorous interaction between President
Obama and his teenage daughters earned him a good 4
seconds of laughter and also, got his audience engaged for
whats to come next as he gone on to recognize his
campaign team. This shows that humor need not be all blue
or canned but can be found everywhere in our day to day
interactions too.

Story of One, Story of Many


o The magic of making your speeches intimate and truly personal
especially when you are speaking to a group of audience thats
diverse in many different ways is when you can translate a larger
phenomena or intention into smaller, visible and relatable
experiences.
o We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America,
in a tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrants
daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag.

o To the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life
beyond the nearest street corner.
o To the furniture workers child in North Carolina who wants to
become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a
diplomat or even a president thats the future we hope for. Thats
the vision we share.
o
o Too many times, speakers try to impress us with numbers and
statistics but neglect the immense power of stories. Notice there
wasnt a single mention of any statistic in President Obamas
speech? Never in any moment of President Obamas speech did
he mention the margin of victory vis-a-vis Romney. That said,
statistics and hard evidence do matter but in an opportune and
jubilant moment like this, cold and calculated hard numbers dont
matter as much as evoked rich emotions do.
Its not about I, but You and We
What becomes telling is when you starting take note of the different types of
pronouns President Obama uses and how often he uses them in his entire
speech. In his 21 minutes victory speech, these were the tally of the usage of the
different pronouns.
I 33 times - personal connection because of how it sounds as if President
Obama is talking to you and no one else but yourself.
You/youre/your 56 times - personal connection because of how it sounds as if
President Obama is talking to you and no one else but yourself.
We/Us/Our 110 times - personal connection because of how it sounds as if
President Obama is talking to you and no one else but yourself.
Great speeches generally have a lower I-U ratio because the focus is not
on I as an individual but about You as an audience and why you
should listen and what should you listen out for. During the course of any
speech or presentation, the audience is always asking Whats in it for
me? (WIIFM) and So what? so it is imperative to always ensure your
speech is audience-centric and also, to create value and stake for the
audience to listen in to what you have to say

Rich Usage of Rhetorical Devices

or resource of language is a technique that an author or speaker uses to


convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading
him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective, using
sentences designed to encourage or provoke a rational argument from ...

Anaphora the repetition of a word or phrase at the start of successive


clauses or sentences. Usage of Anaphora as a rhetorical device helps to
convey and reinforce a certain message in a successive manner that
resonates with the audience like layering a Lego brick atop another
sequentially. If you listen to Obamas speeches enough, he uses them

generously.
1) This country has more wealth than any nation, but thats not
what makes us rich.
We have the most powerful military in history, but thats not what makes us
strong.
Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but thats not
whatkeeps the world coming to our shores.
2) Ive seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their
own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would rather
cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job.
Ive seen it in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs
who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew
there was a buddy behind them watching their back.
Ive seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from
every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to
help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm.
Metaphor compares two different things in a figurative sense. Metaphors
convey ideas that may be somewhat abstract in an otherwise figurative
and visual sense and this aids understanding.
Thank you for believing all the way, through every hill, through every
valley.
As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts.
Its not always a straight line. Its not always a smooth path.

Epistrophe repetition of a word or phrase at the end of successive


clauses or sentences. This is possibly one of Obamas favorite as well,
probably given the context that he can play up on.
We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain
more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever
will be the United States of America.
8. Delivered with Utmost Conviction and Progressive Rhythm a la Barack
Obama
If you watch closely at when the audience gets most fanatic or fired up
during President Obamas speech, it happens during his intentional

climatic and rapid build-up of emotions to rally his audience towards a


landing statement and point. Its like following a drama where the
protagonist is in a pursuit or mission. He meets the indomitable villain, has
the toughest and most excruciating battle he has fought in his life and
alas, finishes it off in one swift strike. In the equivalent of a dramatic
structure in plays or films, its the concept of dnouement where the
conflict is being resolved and this gives way to a sense of catharsis.
Wikipedia has it that, etymologically, the French word dnouement is
derived from the Old French word desnouer, to untie, from nodus, Latin
for knot. Simply put, dnouement is the unraveling or untying of the

complexities of a plot.
The following are two excerpts from his speech where he led his audience
in a series of statements thats built up progressively and in a rapid-fire
fashion with Obamas usual conviction and resoluteness. The words in
bold are the landing statements or junctures, where it represents an
emotional climax for the audience.
The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we
accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The
freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come
with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and
charity and duty and patriotism. Thats what makes America great.
(15:30 15:56)
America, I believe we can build on the progress weve made and
continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for
the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the

idea that if youre willing to work hard, it doesnt matter who you are or
where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesnt
matter whether youre black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native
American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight,
you can make it here in America if youre willing to try. (19:30 20:10)

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