ABSTRACT
Charisma. It is a word that comes to mind frequently when people speak of persuasion. You probably think of great speakers, a certain magnetic quality, or perhaps people you know who seem to embody this trait. Charisma is also one of those “god-terms” in persuasion (Weaver, 1953)—concepts that have positive connotations, but have been used for good and evil purposes. We can glimpse this in the tumultuous events of the 20th century, events that were shaped in no small measure by the power of charismatic leaders. We can also observe this in speeches delivered by orators in the 21st century, speeches that inspired citizens. For example:
On January 12, 2016, President Barack Obama delivered his final State of the Union address, close to a dozen years after he rocked the Democratic National Convention in July, 2004, giving a keynote speech that propelled him to his party’s nomination and sent ripples of change through the system. On that cold January evening, he spoke forcefully and with poise. His syntax, sentence structure, and metaphoric references were distinctive. As in 2004, “his height, his prominent sober head, (and) his long arms ‘lent him’ a commanding aura.” His voice, “with its oratorical cadences,” boomed (Messud, 2008, p. 49). In a State of the Union speech marked less by specific proposals than by philosophical themes and exhortations to the citizenry, he concluded by calling on Americans to work for change:
We need every American to stay active in our public life and not just during election time . . . It is not easy. Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that, a little over a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I will be right there with you as a citizen, inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness, that have helped America travel so far. Voices that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino; not as
gay or straight, immigrant or native born; not Democrat or Republican; but as Americans first, bound by a common creed . . .And they’re out there, those voices . . . I see them everywhere I travel in this incredible country of ours. I see you, the American people. And, in your daily acts of citizenship, I see our future unfolding . . . I see it in the Dreamer who stays up late at night to finish her science project, and the teacher who comes in early, maybe with some extra supplies that she bought, because she knows that that young girl might someday cure a disease . . . I see it in the soldier who gives almost everything to save his brothers, the nurse who tends to him until he can run a marathon, the community that lines up to cheer him on . . . That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future. I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that’s why I stand here, as confident as I have ever been, that the state of our Union is strong.
