Palin Speaking Style

Sarah Palin at the Republican Convention/(Susan Walsh/AP)

 

Sarah Palin has spoken in front of thousands of people, in debates, public forums, speeches and interviews. Her speaking style is familiar and trustworthy and it connects her with many Americans. Some say that Palin uses her hometown linguistics to distract the public from her lack of knowledge regarding the issues but even her critics will agree that Palins speaking style is unique and helps set her apart from other candidates in the upcoming election.

 

The RNC

On Sept. 3^rd 2008 Alaska Governor Sara Palin accepted the 2008 vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota. Virtually unknown to the American Public, Palin took the stage and delivered a thirty-five minute speech filled with sarcasm and sassy hometown appeal. Her language never became to complicated or wordy, she talked as if she was having fun.

This speech was a defining moment for the McCain Campaign that had been lacking enthusiasm from the Republican party. A Poll released by Gallup on September 7th reveals that Palins speech was very well received by the public, 42% of people polled thought her speech to be excellent. This is a higher “excellent” rating than any other speech given by any politician during 2008.

When voters were asked the question “Does having Sarah Palin as his running mate make you more likely to vote for john McCain in November?” 18% of voters said yes prior to the Republican National Convention and 29% said yes after the convention.

This huge spike in polling numbers, leaves no question that Palin’s speech gained the trust of many Americans and gave the McCain Campaign new energy.

Emotionally Talented

Many tribute her effective speeches to her background as a television reporter and beauty pageant competitor, these experiences could have taught her how to be comfortable in front of the camera. 

“From the day she sat down in front of the TV cameras to do her sportscasting,” commented Anchorage-based pollster Ivan Moore. “Her success in her political career has been based on being able to project this enormously friendly, enormously appealing physical presence”

Cameras can dull people’s emotions, Palin boosts her emotions in order to compensate. Creating a colorful more vibrant personality for the screen.

Non-Verbal Cues

Palin uses many non-verbal cues when delivering speeches that further boost her emotions and help connect with the audience. She uses facial expressions, winks, leans her shoulders back and sometimes even shakes her head or finger to display a point. Her nonverbal presence is exactly how someone can display more emotion through the television screen and excite their audience. Her non-verbal cues grab the viewer’s attention and add depth to her words.

Hometown Talk

Palin uses savvy dialect colored with every day midwest slang like “you betcha,” “a heck of a lot,” “darn right,” and “doggone it.” She says “heck,” “darn,” “shoot” and “oh, gee.” The nation’s financial system “needs some shakin’ up and some fixin.”  She neglects consonants in words like “pushin,” mispronounces words like “nuclear,” and as for the critics they’re just a bunch of “haters.” 

This might seem ignorant to some viewers who appreciate proper english from their elected officials, but few can argue that her hometown slang is boring. Her painted words make her speeches more fun and interesting, something that “joe six pack” doesn’t mind listening to. People relate to Palins language becuase she uses words of the common people; this helps bring her through the screen and into viewer’s living rooms. For thousands of Americans across the country the language people know is language they trust and Palins got it. 

Scripted

Like every speech given by a politician running for political office, Palins speeches are scripted. As she gazes around the audience and speaks, Palin sees teleprompters before voters. Many critics of Palin say that although she is good at giving scripted speeches, she falls short in question and answer sessions because of her lack of knowledge on political issues. 

 

Interview Deflection

Since becoming John McCains running mate, Palin had done interviews with major news network anchors including Charles Gibson (ABC) and Katie Couric(CBS). These interviews did not go as well as Palin supporters would have hoped. 

Palin lacks substance when discussing major political issues and some questions stumped her altogether but her confident style of speaking helped her deflect hard questions without sounding confused. she has ability to deflect difficult questions and switch them to her advantage very smoothly. The confidence in her voice rarely falters when speaking in interviews.

ABC

When Charles Gibson asked “Do you agree with the Bush Doctrine?” Palin Answered with, “in what respect, Charlie?”It was clear that she had no idea what he was talking about. When prompted again Palin deflected the answer by promoting her campaign:

  “I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that’s the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.”

Although Palin had no idea what the Bush Doctrine was, neither do many Americans. By deflecting the question she still gave an answer, and although the answer she gave did not fit the question it was given in up most confidence, which gave credibility to the viewer. 

CBS

When Palin is cornered she tends to revert back to her political agenda and promote her campaign.

Katie Couric asked Palin to quote specific examples of John McCain siding with less regulation during his 26 years in Congress, Palin deflected the question twice before finally saying, “I’ll try to find you some and I’ll bring them to you.”

Each deflection bore positive comments supporting her campaign:

“He’s also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he’s been talking about – the need to reform government.”

“I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.” 

Although Katie Couric’s persistence in asking the question finally resulted in stumping Palin it was only after the question had been answered twice in a pro McCain fashion. A less persistent journalist might have moved on to the next question leaving Palin with successful answer to a question she didn’t know.

Troopergate 

When the Alaska State investigation of the Troopergate scandal released its findings that Palin had broken state ethical laws, palin deflected questions during a short interview with Alaskan Journalists. Even though Palin had been found to have misused her power by pursuing a personal vendetta rather than serving public interest. she casually responded to the questions as if she had done nothing wrong:

 “pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there.”

This is a very effect tactic, by not admitting wrong doing she avoids soundbites that might break public confidence. 

Throughout all her interviews Palin keeps a very personal dialogue with the interviewer. She refers to them as if they were a friend that she is having a chat with. During her interview with Charles Gibson she used her hometown talk to make the conversation seem casual, “ya know charlie.” This gains a makes her seem very personable on camera.

Even thought Palins interviews have not always gone smoothly she always keeps her cool. The skill of not being phases by questions that she will not or cannot answer, keeps her strong on camera. Palin does not know all of the answers but she carries herself with confidence in every interview.  

Debates

During debates Palin has a record of tearing apart her opponents with casual slang and sarcastic comments. Although she does not hold the same amount of knowledge regarding issues as many of her opponents, Palins ability of connecting with her audience is very strong, people understand her because she is very good at compressing information for the public. 

One Of Palins aides commented on her speaking style by saying, “if you can sit her down, she has a talent for listening to a policy presentation that is so boring it would bring tears to your eyes, Then — boom — she will nail it down to its essence.”

She uses her on camera abilities to gain confidence from the audience and connect with them through hometown slang, non-verbal cues and feel good answers. She pairs this with the ability to deflect questions and causally belittle her opponents. When debating for governor in 2006, Palin’s confident hometown appeal and sarcastic comments won over the other two candidates knowledge of state policy issues.  One of those candidates (independent Andrew Halcro) later commented on Palins debating abilities: 

“When you try to prove she doesn’t know anything, you lose, because audiences are enraptured by her”

In her most recent debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden, Palin used all of her skills to connect with a the American public as much as possible, when asked about the economy Palin confidently spat this out:

“You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America’s economy, is go to a kid’s soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, “How are you feeling about the economy?”

Palin and Biden debate/(Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)

This quote sounds like something you might hear at a back yard barbecue not a nationally televised debate. This hometown talk gains points with Americans who relate to it.

As the debate came to a close Palin was caught using a classic Ronald Reagan line from his debates with Jimmy Carter during the 1980s. Looking over at Joe Biden Palin said, “their you go again.”