1. Class 21:
EWRT 1A

2. AGENDA
Speech Writing
Bill Clinton‘s Democratic National
Convention Speech
Bill Clinton‘s 10 Rhetorical
Strategies in Speech Writing

3. Note his visual establishment
of his ethos!

4. Bill Clinton‘s speech at the Democratic National
Convention received a lot of attention — and
understandably so.
While Factcheck.org called it ―a fact-checker‘s
nightmare‖ and others criticized it for being too long,
there‘s something about Clinton‘s speech that made it
stand out: good writing.
There are several factors that made the writing in the
speech so strong. Here are a few of them.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/187705/10-rhetorical-
strategies-that-made-bill-clintons-dnc-speech-effective/

5. Contrast
Clinton strengthened many of his points by setting up contrasts —
about President Barack Obama and about the differences between
the Republican and Democratic parties.
 ―I want to nominate a man who‘s cool on the
outside – but who burns for America on the inside.‖
 ―If you want a winner-take- all, you‘re-on-your-
own society, you should support the Republican
ticket. But if you want a country of shared
opportunities and shared responsibility, a we‘re-all-
in-this-together society, you should vote for Barack
Obama and Joe Biden.‖

6.  ―I want to nominate a man who‘s cool on the outside.‖
 ―I want a man who believes with no doubt that we can build a new
American Dream economy…‖
 ―I want a man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama.‖
 ―I want Barack Obama to be the next president of the United
States.‖
 ―One of the main reasons we ought to re-elect President Obama is
that he is still committed to constructive cooperation. Look at his
record. Look at his record.‖
 ―And if you will renew the president‘s contract, you will feel it. You
will feel it.‖
Repetition
Clinton repeated a few different refrains,
words and phrases throughout his speech.
The repetition made these parts of his
speech more memorable.

7.  ―We Democrats — we think the country works better with a strong
middle class…‖
 In Tampa — in Tampa — did y‘all watch their convention?‖
 ―My fellow Americans, all of us in this grand hall and everybody
watching at home, when we vote in this election, we‘ll be deciding what
kind of country we want to live in.‖
 ―You see, we believe that ‗we‘re all in this together‘ is a far better
philosophy than ‗you‘re on your own.‘‖
 ―My fellow Americans, if that is what you want, if that is what you
believe, you must vote and you must re-elect President Barack
Obama.‖
Inclusive language
Clinton often used the pronouns ―we,‖
―us‖ and ―y‘all,‖ and the phrase ―my
fellow Americans.‖ The language made
his message inclusive and emphasized
partnership over partisanship.

8.  ―We think the country works better with a strong middle class,
with real opportunities for poor folks to work their way into it
with a relentless focus on the future, with business and
government actually working together to promote growth and
broadly share prosperity.‖
 ―Now, are we where we want to be today? No. Is the
president satisfied? Of course not. But are we better off than we
were when he took office? … The answer is yes.‖
 ―The arithmetic tells us, no matter what they say, one of three
things is about to happen.‖ (He then goes on to explain these
three things, starting off each point with the words, ―one,‖ ―two,‖
―three.‖)
The ―rule of three‖
Writers often rely on the rule of three to add rhythm
to their writing and emphasize points they want to
make. Clinton relied on it several times throughout
his speech.

9.  ―So here‘s another job score.
President Obama: plus 4 1/2
million. Congressional
Republicans: zero.‖
 ―Here – here‘s another job
score: Obama, 250,000; Romney
… zero.‖
 ―What new ideas did we bring to
Washington? I always give a one-
word answer: Arithmetic.‖
 ―It was a highly inconvenient
thing for them in our debates that I
was just a country boy from
Arkansas, and I came from a place
where people still thought two and
two was four. It‘s arithmetic.‖
The power of one
Words hold weight when they
stand alone. Two words in
particular stuck out during
Clinton‘s speech — ―zero‖ and
―arithmetic.‖ They were powerful
all on their own because Clinton
paused before saying them,
enunciated them and repeated
them.

10.  ―Now, when Congressman Ryan looked
into that TV camera and attacked President
Obama‘s Medicare savings as, quote, ‗the
biggest, coldest power play,‘ I didn‘t know
whether to laugh or cry.‖
 ―You got to give one thing: It takes some
brass to attack a guy for doing what you
did.‖
Humor
It‘s not easy to incorporate humor into writing,
especially when talking about heavy subjects. But
Clinton managed to get a few laughs. The jokes
emphasized his points, and balanced the
seriousness of his speech.

11.  ―Now you‘re having a good time, but this is getting serious, and
I want you to listen.‖
 ―Listen to me, now. No president — no president, not me, not
any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired all the
damage that he found in just four years.‖
 ―So here‘s another job score. Are you listening in Michigan
and Ohio and across the country?‖
 ―And listen to this. Listen to this. … Now, finally, listen to this.‖
Instructional language
Clinton often instructed viewers to listen to what he was
saying. Instructional language is especially effective on
TV when people might be distracted and in longer
speeches because it helps redirect our attention if it‘s
been diverted. (Clinton‘s speech, by the way, was nearly
6,000 words long.)

12.  ―Now, look. Here‘s the challenge he faces and the challenge
all of you who support him face.‖
 ―So the president‘s student loan reform is more important than
ever. Here‘s what it does – here‘s what it does.‖
 ―Let‘s take a look at what‘s actually happened so far, when
talking about healthcare.‖
 ―Now what does this mean? What does this mean? Think of it.
It means no one will ever have to drop out of college again for
fear they can‘t repay their debt.‖
 ―Look, here‘s what really happened. You be the judge. Here‘s
what really happened.‖
Explanatory language
Like good explanatory journalism, Clinton‘s speech made
complicated subject matters easy to understand. He was
conversational when talking about issues such as health care
reform, and used the phrases ―here‘s what it does‖ and
―here‘s what really happened.‖

13.  ―Now, why is this true? Why does cooperation work
better than constant conflict? Because nobody‘s right all
the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day.‖
 ―Now, why do I believe it? I‘m fixing to tell you why. I
believe it because…‖
 ―Are we better off because President Obama fought
for health care reform? You bet we are.‖
Questions and answers
Clinton didn‘t just pose questions; he answered them.
And like a good journalist, he asked a lot of ―why‖
questions. His answers conveyed confidence and
hope.

14. The end
Strong writing ties together beginnings and ends. Clinton
began his speech with the refrain ―I want.‖ He ended it with
the same verb, but placed the emphasis on the American
people: ―If you want America — if you want every American to
vote and you think it is wrong to change voting procedures —
just to reduce the turnout of younger, poorer, minority and
disabled voters — you should support Barack Obama.‖
Similarly, at the beginning of his speech, Clinton said Obama
is ―a man who burns for America on the inside.‖ At the end, he
returned to the fiery analogy, saying: ―We come through every
fire a little stronger and a little better.‖

15. In-Class Writing:
Revising your speech
Read your speech carefully. See
if you have used rhetorical
strategies like King or Clinton.
Take some time to try to work
these strategies into what you
have written.

16. Homework
Revise your speech
to include several of
Clinton's rhetorical
strategies.
Work on speech
presentation extras
Speeches begin at our
next meeting. Everyone
should be prepared to go
first.