Alvin Soong’s Blog

Obama has just got elected as the President of USA. The next 4 years of world economy would depend now on the leadership of Obama to bring USA and effectively the world economy to the next stage, hopefully to a bighter future.

See Obama’s Victory Speech at Chicago below:

Download the written speech: obama-victory-speech.pdf

I was looking at the communications between the 2 hopefuls Mr McCain and Mr Obama in their presidential campaign. Much can be learnt from them.

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Mr McCain’s Strong Communication Points:

Mr McCain has a distinct approach to leadership. He advocated he would fix the problem. Although he was accused of “showboating” and trying to get credit for something that other people were working hard on, McCain exemplifies the more typical Western drew attention to the crisis and set it as a top priority; he personally committed to finding a solution and he indicated that he would get involved and personally make sure movement happened. He was “actively involved” instead of ‘phoning it in’. He was willing to face defeat for the greater cause. It also fits the ideal of a large part of the population who looks to the president as the national natriarch (or the CEO as the company dad).

McCain’s longtime service in the Senate has made confident debater who is fluent on many of the issues. McCain’s experience also helps him at town-hall meetings and in question-and-answer sessions, he can answer just about anything, even hostile questions.

In contrast, McCain’s voice is thin and doesn’t project very well. Whereas McCain seems comfortable making small talk with truck-stop owners and answering off-the-cut questions from factory workers. For certain constituencies a more casual appearance communicates that this guy knows what my life is like. McCain’s ability to communicate through body language is limited due to injuries he sustained as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Where McCain spoke most powerfully and had anyone’s fullest attention was in recounting his brutal imprisonment in Vietnam. This was a story no other candidate can tell was the emotional centerpiece. He resounded especially well in words: “I wasn’t my own man anymore; I was my country’s”.

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Mr Obama’s Strong Communication Points:

Obama took a different listed five things a deal would have to include, he acknowledged the group dynamics of the situation and chose to take responsibility for the outcome, his contribution would be behind the scenes (this was either emotionally intelligent or seeking political cover, depending on which side of the debate you were on); he made his contributions behind the scenes, speaking to all sides and in the White House meeting asked a lot of questions without offering his own solutions; and he was accused by many people of “not stepping up” or “showing leadership” by inserting his personality and considerable influence in a visible way. Although many people with a traditional view of what a leader does described his approach to political cowardice rather than an honest attempt to reach consensus. On the other hand, the failure would be blamed on the group, rather than any particular individual.

In this leadership style, the leader focuses attention on the group and the outcome. This is often considered an indicative if a more collaborative generation, where group work is taught from an early age.

Obama uses a lot of words like you, us, our troops, and all of us, and that makes people identity with him. Obama often quotes the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as President John F. Kennedy. Both were eloquent speakers. You get the feeling from Obama that he could read a recipe to you and you would feel inspired. For starters, he’s mastered the teleprompter to the point where it takes a trained eye to realize he’s reading off a screen. Secondly, he effectively uses pauses to give people a chance to digest his message, applaud and sometimes passionately chant one oh his slogans.

Obama has the upper hand when it comes to voice. Not only is his voice more youthful and energetic. Obama managed to invest the obligatory policy and issue portion of his speech with passion and a sense of purpose. He managed a masterful maneuver channeling the oratorical force of Martin Luther King without overtly mentioning him by name.

However there were instances where some said he could improve. A report indicated Obama often looks ill at ease when he has to get off the campaign bus on his stump tours. His tendency to reject food offered to him on the road by well-meaning constituents. He’s not comfortable in these settings and it may hurt him with middle-class voters.

On the whole Obama gave an image of Change, the World and US is looking for. The next challenge for him would probably how he can bring the fiscal policies to bring the US economy up to shape, which eventually would affect the world’s economy.

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Another Speech on ” A More Perfect Union” by Obama

Sources from The Edge, Toastmasters, The Internet Googles, YOUtube and personal research

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