How to Inspire People Like Obama Does

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MAR 3, 2008 -- Over the past several years, I have been interviewing, observing, and writing about business, academic, and political leaders who have the ability to influence their audience—leaders who fire up the rest of us. Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is one of them.

For a look at what makes Obama's public speaking skills so effective, I outline four techniques he's mastered and explain ways to use them in your own repertoire.

Hold Out Hope

Like Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan, Obama speaks in the uplifting rhetoric of hope. After his defeat in New Hampshire, Obama's political oratory was so hopeful he sounded more like a winner than a runner-up. Obama knew a hopeful message would embolden his supporters. In a speech on Jan. 8, 2008, Obama said, "We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change… We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."

You are the leader people want to believe in. Your customers and employees are bombarded by bad news—the credit crunch, a housing slump, an economic slowdown—but they are eager to hear something positive. That doesn't mean leaders stick their heads in the sand—far from it. Inspiring leaders acknowledge the situation but also remind people of reasons to be optimistic.

Click here for the complete article at BusinessWeek.com


Carmine Gallo, a business communications coach and Emmy-Award winning former TV journalist, is the author of Fire Them Up! and 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators. He writes his communications column every week.

Categories: Self Improvement, Columns

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