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… I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, Black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama

Former First Lady of the United States, author and speaker

B: 17 January 1964, Chicago, IL, United States

When they go low, we go high

When: 26 July 2016

Where: Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia

Audience: 50 000 people

On 26 July 2016, the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, spoke in support of Hillary Clinton in front of approximately 50 000 people at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia. This convention confirmed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for president in the upcoming election, opposing Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.

Leading up to this speech, the world had witnessed the maturation of Obama's public-speaking ability and presence as she was thrust into the spotlight in correlation with the political career of her husband, Barack Obama. At times, we had seen her unsure of herself and rather guarded; at other times, she had been forthright and direct. Over time, she developed a style that was all her own.

Obama's speech at the DNC preceding the 2016 election was one of her finest moments at the microphone. A beautiful combination of emotion, conviction and technique, this speech provoked an overwhelming response from the assembled audience — including a standing ovation that appeared to be a genuine spontaneous response.

Obama's degree of influence in the United States and across the globe grew throughout and beyond her husband's presidency. With the publication of her book Becoming and the associated lecture tour, she has emerged as a role model in her own right.

Her signature speaking style is down to earth, and her language typically includes notes of colloquialism and candour. We often hear references to family, Black history and patriotism. On this occasion, Obama's speech was well crafted and expertly delivered, as the extracts included here show. She doesn't mention Trump at any point. Instead, her speech is imbued with values, triumph and optimism.

WHAT SHE SAID

Thank you all. Thank you so much. You know, it's hard to believe that it has been eight years since I first came to this convention to talk with you about why I thought my husband should be president.

Remember how I told you about his character and convictions, his decency and his grace, the traits that we've seen every day that he's served our country in the White House?

I also told you about our daughters, how they are the heart of our hearts, the centre of our world. And during our time in the White House, we've had the joy of watching them grow from bubbly little girls into poised young women, a journey that started soon after we arrived in Washington.

When they set off for their first day at their new school, I will never forget that winter morning as I watched our girls, just seven and ten years old, pile into those black SUVs with all those big men with guns.

And I saw their little faces pressed up against the window, and the only thing I could think was, what have we done?

See, because at that moment I realised that our time in the White House would form the foundation for who they would become. And how well we managed this experience could truly make or break them. That is what Barack and I think about every day as we try to guide and protect our girls through the challenges of this unusual life in the spotlight, how we urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith.

How we insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country.

How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is when they go low, we go high.

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models. And let me tell you, Barack and I take that same approach to our jobs as President and First Lady because we know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls, but the children across this country, kids who tell us ‘I saw you on TV', ‘I wrote a report on you for school'.

Kids like the little Black boy who looked up at my husband, his eyes wide with hope and he wondered, Is my hair like yours?

… And I am here tonight because I know that that is the kind of president that Hillary Clinton will be. And that's why in this election I'm with her.

You see, Hillary understands that the president is about one thing and one thing only: it's about leaving something better for our kids. That's how we've always moved this country forward, by all of us coming together on behalf of our children, folks who volunteer to coach that team, to teach that Sunday school class, because they know it takes a village.

… Leaders like Hillary Clinton, who has the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in that highest and hardest glass ceiling until she finally breaks through, lifting all of us along with her.

That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.

And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, Black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.

And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.

So, look, so don't let anyone ever tell you that this country isn't great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on Earth!

And as my daughters prepare to set out into the world, I want a leader who is worthy of that truth, a leader who is worthy of my girls' promise and all our kids' promise, a leader who will be guided every day by the love and hope and impossibly big dreams that we all have for our children.

So in this election, we cannot sit back and hope that everything works out for the best. We cannot afford to be tired or frustrated or cynical. No, hear me. Between now and November, we need to do what we did eight years ago and four years ago.

We need to knock on every door, we need to get out every vote, we need to pour every last ounce of our passion and our strength and our love for this country into electing Hillary Clinton as president of the United States of America!

So let's get to work.

Thank you all and God bless.

HOW SHE DID THAT

Connect the personal to the universal

Long after we have forgotten the context of this speech or the fact that it was delivered at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, we will remember the claim of the moral imperative — ‘when they go low, we go high'. This is the lesson Michelle Obama imparts through her words. By examining how she gets there, we can extract some meaningful lessons for aspiring speakers. Obama begins, as she often does, with reference to her family. We are invited to view her as a mother first. We are there with her when her two young girls, then only seven and ten, first took up residence in the White House.

Just like all parents, the Obamas were concerned with how to instil ethical practice and some sort of moral compass in the minds of their children. What were these two girls to do when faced with the inevitable attacks on both their parents from the opposition and from the media? Just like every other parent, Obama mused, ‘How we explain that when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, you don't stoop to their level.' For Obama, the answer was clear: ‘No, our motto is when they go low, we go high.' Unlike every other parent, Obama ushered her two girls through adolescence under the constant gaze of the public and the scrutiny of the media. Her approach for dealing with this, however, is universally accessible.

What might otherwise have sounded preachy, suddenly becomes the admirable and approachable insight from a ‘mom'.

Apply rhetorical flourishes

It is well known that Michelle Obama worked closely with a professional speechwriter for this and many of her other addresses. Perhaps that is why we see several classical rhetorical devices at work in this particular speech. They are all cleverly applied, and fade into the background as they should, but it can be useful for those looking to polish their craft to identify a few examples.

Repetition of a word or phrase — in this case, ‘kids'— is used several times. In the full speech (available online — see the Sources section at the end of this book), she also uses the lead-in statement ‘I want' four times, followed by ‘someone', ‘a president' (twice) and ‘a leader'. (You can see her final use of this lead-in statement in the extract provided.) This establishes a rhythm and builds towards a crescendo. Using these three variants of what Obama wants is one of several examples of tricolon — that satisfying rule of three first identified by Aristotle. (See Emmeline Pankhurst's speech in chapter 4 for more on this concept.)

Embody the delivery

Rhetoric and metaphor are useful in producing a speech as powerful as this one, but there is much more is going on here. The carefully crafted words must be artfully delivered. A great script is nothing without an equally powerful performance. What Michelle Obama achieved on this occasion was nothing short of masterful.

Her pace was perfect — a little bit fast with the slightest touch of breathlessness. This served to amplify the importance of the occasion and the gravity of the message. She achieved the often-elusive emotional resonance. We could see and hear how she felt about her content. When she picks up the personal story and returns to her daughters playing on the White House lawn, she is visibly choked up. This is the moment the audience rises to their feet and the cheering intensifies. This is oratorical alchemy.

One person in the audience, and their reaction, stands out — former President Bill Clinton. At this crucial moment, he mouths the word ‘wow' and stands to applaud. He is clearly affected by the statement and the emotion with which Mrs Obama says, ‘And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.' Now, Bill Clinton is one of the most adept practitioners of pathos I have ever observed — he has that power to inspire deep emotion. His response makes the moment significant.

If you are making a point — indeed, if you are overtly claiming the high ground — your audience needs to believe you are fully committed. Otherwise, you may be met with the scepticism of a naughty teenager getting a lecture. Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC in 2016 is a fine example of a great speech expertly delivered.