A. Introduction

a. Attention Getter: I do not like Hillary Clinton and I will not be voting for her.

i. The last time I spoke, I apparently led many of you to believe that I was biased in favor of Hillary Clinton, this is not the case.

b. Credibility Statement: Instead, I am merely fixated upon the media coverage of the primary elections, and found this to be an interesting case.

c. The last time I spoke to you, I discussed the situation which caused Hillary to deliver the speech she did on January 7th when she came close to tears.

i. Every time Hillary Clinton speaks, her message is “vote for me!”

ii. However each individual speech takes a different angle as to why people should vote for her.

iii. Prior to this speech, Senator Clinton generally tried to establish an ethical appeal by referring to her experience.

iv. In this speech however, Hillary shifted to a pathetic appeal.

v. Hillary needed to show the public her emotions; to show people that she is an everyday person.

d. Thesis: Hillary Clinton delivered a carefully crafted message: that she is a normal person, but one fit to be president.

e. Preview: Clinton’s message, although staged, was conveyed through both verbal and nonverbal communication.

f. Transition: In order to establish a basis for analyzing the content of the speech, I will first address whether the emotional moment was staged.

B. Body

a. The truth is that Hillary faked the tears.

i. I do not hold this against her, she is a politician, but it was clearly staged.

ii. First of all, the timing of the emotional moment was too perfect to be a coincidence.

1. As reported in the Washington Post, Hillary was under attack in the week leading up to this for not being liked as a person by voters.

2. Just days prior to this speech, Bill Clinton had said that Hillary needed to let voters get to know her. (Healy)

3. Her near-crying moment also came immediately before the New Hampshire primary.

iii. Also, according to Fox News, Hillary’s campaign has previously been caught staging seemingly ad-hoc questions.

iv. During her speech-like response, Hillary immediately regains her composure and, after finishing speaking, nods with an inward look on her face, as if congratulating herself on a great delivery.

v. Transition: Though I believe that Hillary staged her emotional speech, she did an excellent job delivering it.

b. Clinton began her portrayal of herself as a real person with an offhand joke.

i. In a second I am going to show you a clip from the beginning of her speech. The clip comes immediately after she is asked “how she does it” and I want you to watch for a few specific things.

1. Listen to Hillary’s tone of voice, and watch her facial expressions. She is confident and happy, even playful.

Show First Clip

ii. There Clinton appeared confident and strong.

1. She showed the poise she is known for.

iii. Transition: This confidence serves as a contrast for what is to come. After the initial casual response, Hillary moves into the emotional part of her speech.

c. Clinton goes on to talk about how she is on a personal mission to change America into a better place.

d. What Clinton says here is immaterial, standard political lines; what is important is the nonverbal message she is sending.

i. The message that Hillary is trying to convey is that she has emotions, that she is a normal person.

1. This is a difficult point to deliver. Hillary cannot just pull a Pinocchio and declare herself “a real boy”, or girl as the case may be.

ii. Instead, Clinton must prove it to the audience.

Show Second Clip

iii. In this part of her response, everything about her delivery has changed.

1. Her tone of voice is no longer confident, but emotional.

2. She holds her face in her hand.

3. The expression on her face has changed from a happy look to a sad one.

4. She maintains eye contact with the person who asked the question.

5. At one point she seems on the verge of tears.

6. As Helen Kennedy of the Daily News puts it, Hillary “showed a little female vulnerability, emotion and weakness.”

iv. All of this adds up to a pathetic appeal to the audience, showing Clinton’s emotional side to prospective voters.

v. Transition: Following the display of emotion, Clinton quickly drops the act and returns to a confidant tone.

e. In the New York Times, Michiku Kakutani wrote about how Clinton, as a female candidate, is held to a different standard than male candidates.

1. First, Hillary was questioned by voters for not showing any vulnerability, but in showing emotion she risked being seen as weak.

2. Hillary Clinton was certainly away of this when she chose to show her emotions as she did.

ii. After showing weakness, Hillary immediately returns to a show of strength.

iii. She returns to the confidant, almost casual tone she used to begin her monologue.

iv. Yet she still focuses on the point that she is a normal person.

1. She mentions trying to find time to exercise while campaigning.

2. She mentions eating a lot of pizza while on the campaign trail, and this statement is a lot more important than the casual remark it seems to be.

a. Hillary Clinton eats pizza? Not just caviar and lobster?

b. By mentioning eating pizza, Hillary further relates herself to the common-man.

f. Transition: With this return to a casual tone, she managed to maintain an overall image of strength while showing weakness.

C. Conclusion

a. Though Clinton’s speech was likely planned in advance, her delivery conveyed her message perfectly.

b. With amazing control of vocal delivery and body language, Hillary humanized herself in the eyes of voters.

c. Her display of weakness showed a passionate but overworked patriot, desperately in need of a pat on the back.

d. As a result of her speech, New Hampshire delivered that pat on the back via a victory in the Democratic primary.

Works Cited

Garret, Major. "Hillary Responds to Accusations Her Campaign Planted Questions At Public Appearances." 20 Nov. 2007. Fox News. 26 Feb. 2008<http://www.foxnews.com/ story/0,2933,310417,00.html>.

Healy, Patrick. "Persona trumps policy as Clinton tours Iowa." The International Herald Tribune 20 Dec. 2007 Des Moines, Iowa .

"Hillary Clinton Emotional." YouTube. 7 Jan. 2008. 26 Feb. 2008 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nee_AFordWE>.

Kakutani, Michiko. "Candidate Clinton Scrutinized by Women." The New York Times 15 Jan. 2008: E1.

Kennedy, Helen. "LOSING IT MADE HIL A BIG WINNER. WEEPY BREAKDOWN SENT WOMEN FLOWING TO HER IN DROVES." The Daily News 10 Jan. 2008 New York.

Kornblut, Anne E. "An Emotional Clinton Reflects on How She Does It." The Washington Post 7 Jan. 2008. 8 Feb. 2008<http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thetrail/2008/01/07/an_emotional_clinton_ reflects.html?hpid=topnews>.

Comments:

Michael Chiang: Your attention-getter was very powerful yet short. I liked your introduction a lot. I also liked your humor that you weaved in throughout the speech. The tone and pace was very smooth along with your great eye-contact and hand movements. I like how you used the video to show us Hilary Clinton and her fakeness. The structure and main points of your speech were very well developed. great speech!

Christina- Good attention getter. Your speech was interesting because it was a topic we are all familiar with and can relate to. Your opinions were pretty funny as well and good job with the eye contact.