Barack Obama's Secret for Stirring a Crowd

Have you ever wondered how Barack Obama does it?

I mean, how he uses words--for the most part simple words--to inspire a crowd the way he did in Chicago's Grant Park on Tuesday night? By the end of Obama's victory speech, Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey weren't the only members of the audience wiping away joyful tears.

Now I'm certainly not dismissing the import of Obama's message or the historical significance of his election. But the powerful effect that Obama's words have on an audience depends largely on the way he uses those words--how he selects and arranges and delivers them. That's what we call rhetoric--and trust me, it's not a dirty word.

In fact, rhetoric is an ancient art and a fairly consequential skill. Thomas Jefferson knew how to use words. So did Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. As it happened, echoes of the words of all four men could be heard in Tuesday night's speech.

Obama's secret--or one part of it, at least--is the magic number three. In rhetorical terms, that's a tricolon: a series of three parallel words, phrases, or clauses. Words such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Phrases such as "government of the people, by the people, for the people." Obama's victory speech was teeming with tricolons--as indicated in these excerpts.

If there is anyone out there [1] who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; [2] who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; [3] who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

[1] It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

[2] It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled--Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

[3] It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be [1] cynical, [2] and fearful, [3] and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did [1] on this day, [2] in this election, [3] at this defining moment, change has come to America. . . .

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington--it began [1] in the backyards of Des Moines [2] and the living rooms of Concord [3] and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give [1] five dollars [2] and ten dollars [3] and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength [1] from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; [2] from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; [3] from the millions of Americans who [1] volunteered, [2] and organized, [3] and proved that more than two centuries later, a government [1] of the people, [2] by the people [3] and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.

I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime--[1] two wars, [2] a planet in peril, [3] the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll [1] make the mortgage, [2] or pay their doctor's bills, [3] or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America--I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you --we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But [1] I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. [2] I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. [3] And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years--[1] block by block, [2] brick by brick, [3] calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek--it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to [1] pitch in [2] and work harder [3] and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers--in this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same [1] partisanship [2] and pettiness [3] and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House--a party founded on the values of [1] self-reliance, [2] individual liberty, [3] and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends . . . though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn--I may not have won your vote, but [1] I hear your voices, [2] I need your help, and [3] I will be your President too. . . .

[1] This is our chance to answer that call. [2] This is our moment. [3] This is our time--[1] to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; [2] to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; [3] to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth--[1] that out of many, we are one; [2] that while we breathe, we hope, and [3] where we are met with [1] cynicism, [2] and doubt, [3] and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Oh sure, this may look as easy as one, two, three, but the truth is it takes more than a flag-draped stage and a run of tricolons to turn an ordinary speech into great oratory. Also helpful is the occasional series of four--a tetracolon ("democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope")--along with effective repetition, a bit of alliteration, and a few conventional metaphors. The insistent use of the first-person plural ("we," "us," and "our") invites identification. And the right combination of anaphora ("It's the answer") and epiphora ("Yes we can") can lift a crowd off its feet and land a speech in the history books.

But that's not all. About 2,000 years ago, Cicero taught us that what makes or breaks a speech is effective delivery, which includes the qualities of dignity and grace:

All these parts of oratory succeed according as they are delivered. Delivery . . . has the sole and supreme power in oratory; without it, a speaker of the highest mental capacity can be held in no esteem; while one of moderate abilities, with this qualification, may surpass even those of the highest talent.
(De Oratore)

So to the list of Obama's persuasive skills add standing tall, speaking forcefully, and exuding confidence.

Oh, and one last thing. Especially in troubled and uncertain times, it never hurts to extend the promise of change, the prospect of hope, and the reminder that we're all in this together.

More About Rhetorical Strategies:

• Tricolons: Writing With the Magic Number Three
• Effective Rhetorical Strategies of Repetition
• Writing With Lists

Image: Senator Barack Obama, President-elect of the United States of America