There is so much that was remarkable about last Tuesday’s elections. One of the factors behind key Democratic victories in Senate and gubernatorial races was the exceptional communications skills of candidates in high-profile contests.

In today’s post, an examination of key passages in four victory speeches and the lessons in persuasive messaging that we can all take away from them.

NOTE: Since delivery is such a critical element in speeches, I’ve included both the text of the highlighted passages and a link to full speech videos with time stamps.

In both writing and delivery, James Talarico may be the most gifted orator in a next generation of Democratic leaders filled with skillful speechmakers. The closing passage of his victory speech is a powerful example. He could have used language like “We need to fight hard for what we believe in.” or “We need to take the fight to our opponents.” But he chose another path.

There are two dynamics we can take away from how Talarico actually expresses the idea:  

 “2,000 years ago, when the people at the top hurt his neighbors, that barefoot rabbi didn’t stay in his room and pray. He walked into the seat of power and he flipped over the tables of injustice. As this movement heads to the seat of power, as we head to the United States Senate, we know what this moment requires of us. Texas, it’s time to start flipping tables.”

Too often nonprofit causes present their agenda in dry, policy wonk language. The same is true of many traditional politicians. But when our vision for the future is expressed in such a formulaic fashion, it comes across as forgettable and devoid of emotion.

In his victory speech, Senator Ossoff shows us another way of speaking about what you aim to achieve.

“ I refuse to accept that my two little girls will grow up in a world as dark and dangerous and cruel as this one threatens to become . . .

“See, when Eva’s old enough to ask why I let this happen, I’m determined to answer truthfully that I didn’t. I’ll tell her how the same year she turned five, Georgia overcame every doubt and dirty trick, not just to win, but to set a new course for our state and our country and our world.

“That we defended voting rights and civil rights at home, that we restored American leadership toward peace and human rights around the world, that we finally acted to ban corporate money and secret money from our politics, and that we guaranteed health care for every single American.”

As a nonprofit communicator, every time you find yourself citing policy ideas, it’s important to ask yourself if they are best conveyed not in the abstract, but in compelling examples of their impact on people’s lives.

Georgia Governor-Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms uses personal details over policy checklists in a manner similar to Senator Ossoff. But it’s for a slightly different purpose. Across the nation, Democrats in red and purple states are alert to their tenuous hold on working class voters. They swung into the Democratic column on November 3^rd, but more out of frustration with Trump than conviction that Democrats understand the challenges they are facing.

It’s now incumbent on Democrats to show both in rhetoric and policy that they hear and are responding to the needs and interests of working class voters. Bottoms does that not by presenting a list of policy initiatives, but by citing clear, concrete examples of the range of people she is focused on helping:

“This campaign was about every community in every corner of Georgia. It is for the veteran who needs access to health care. It’s for the college student who wonders if the cost of their education is worth it. It’s for the teenager who is asking about mental health support.

“This win is for the caregiver who can’t afford health care and needs Georgia to finally expand Medicaid. It is for the entrepreneur who is seeking to grow her small business. This win is for the farmer who is trying to hold on to his family land. It is for the teacher who is working two jobs so that they can educate our children.

“And this win is for the child who deserves every opportunity to succeed. Georgia, this win is for all of us.”

In communications, the art of engagement involves directly relating to our audience’s emotional journey and making it clear that they are active participants, not just supportive bystanders, in moments of achievement.

At the very opening of his speech, Josh Shapiro does both. His words recognize that each of us in the anti-Trump universe has asked ourselves “Am I doing enough? Am I rising to the occasion when so much is on the line?” He puts the doubts to rest and places his audience at the very center of the November 3^rd breakthrough:

“Look these past two years, in particular, have tested our will in previously unimaginable ways. And you, you had every reason to throw up your hands, to tune out, to walk away. But that’s not what you did. You kept the faith. You used your power.

“You not only entrusted me with the opportunity to continue to serve as your Governor. You did your part to help change the very trajectory of this country. You declared within the borders of this Commonwealth and all across this nation that we still determine our future and no one gets away with compromising our shared values.”

Next Steps

As nonprofit communicators, if we want to strengthen our ability to message persuasively, we have to study and draw lessons from skilled communicators beyond the nonprofit world. I hope you will take to heart the techniques these four strong Democratic communicators employ.

But more importantly, I hope you’ll make it a practice to study powerful, emotionally engaging writing wherever you come across it – novelists, screenwriters, songwriters, etc. Don’t just admire it. Pull it apart. Look under the hood and see what they do to make it work. Then apply it to your own writing.