5 Things Academics Can learn From Bill Clinton’s 2012 DNC Speech

Former President Bill Clinton gave a speech at the 2012 DNC that, by social media standards, rocked the nation. By the look of the articles I’ve read , it appears that pundits and writers think the same thing. For almost 50 minutes, Bill Clinton explained policy (not an interesting thing), but the people got it and the speech excited millions.

So what exactly was it about Clinton’s speech that writers, philosophers, academics, and people in general can learn from? The answer can be found in why the audience was able to hear him out.

1. Explain the Complex

You can explain complex material in layman’s terms that the people get. Bill Clinton talk was loaded with policy details that did just that. He discussed things like medicare to student loans. And he did it in lucid and user-friendly way. As academics, we can present complex material to our readers and audience and only leave them more confused at the end than when they started. Our brilliance does not depend on people’s inability to be confused by what we say. Rather, our brilliance is revealed when the people are able to understand– through our own explanations–the complex things we articulate.

We should try to master, like Bill Clinton did last night, being great explainers. One of the things that I tell my students is that my job is not to prove that Im smarter than them. I want us to wrestle with complex material and find the clarity and simpleness within it. I think philosophy will have a greater appeal, if we forsake “over the head” jargon and embrace being great explainers, just like we desire to be great thinkers.

2. Let Us know Where We are Going

Bill Clinton did not just explain policy, he also provided indicator and transition words that guided us throughout the speech like “Now Im gonna talk about…. Point number one”. It was these words that guided his audience along instead of leaving them lost in the sauce. As philosophers and academic writers, we have learned that these indicator and transition phrases are important. There is no need for the audience to wonder what you are going to say. They should already know, through each move, where the work is going. This is something that I constantly reiterate to my students, but it is something that all professional writers need to remain cognizant about.

3. Have Evidence for your argument and against others

Bill Clinton did an amazing job with providing evidence for why Obama’s policies where effective and why the Republican rhetoric is ridiculous. He did it by providing evidence for his claim. Recall when he attacked Paul Ryan’s critique of Obama on medicare, he noted that Ryan had also adopted the same plan. He concluded by suggesting that for Ryan, “It Takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.” It reminds me that to be effective in argumentation it takes solid and sound evidence. Evidence that Paul Ryan in his speech the previous week did not present.

4. Its OK to give your objectors credit

I think so many of us can get lost in disproving the weakness of other people’s arguments that we fail to give them proper credit when it is due. Bill Clinton impressed me when he noted George Bush’s contribution to his AIDS relief program. He even got the audience to applaud. WoW. Giving those who disagree with us credit does not subtract from our argument, it simply adds truth to it.

5. The Argument should be strong but strong phrases can also help the argument 

In the analytic tradition, we are encouraged not to write fancy phrases but to just get to the point. The continental tradition has been accused of this “literary” act and some analytic philosophers seem to look down upon it. However, I am from the black church tradition and I believe in rhetoric particularly rhetoric that can help support your argument. Bill Clinton had those phrases flowing last night. Remember these words:

“I want to nominate a man who’s cool on the outside, but who burns for America on the inside” and “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.”

Just because we write academically does not mean that our words have to be boring. Language is beautiful and powerful. Its OK to play with it sometime.

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