Donald Trump's First State of the Union, Part 1: Ordinary Americans as Examples

Donald Trump Giving 2018 State of the Union Speech

President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union (SOTU) speech last night at the United States Capitol in Washington DC. My comments are based on NPR's transcript, which is based on his remarks as he actually delivered them.  This is because speakers often say things that are not in the official press release transcript. (I'm ignoring NPR's very opinionated commentary, however.)

As expected, Mr. Trump, in general, mostly followed his prepared text. As expected, he sounded presidential, whatever, exactly, that means. He expressed his agenda in moderate language and supported his points with evidence (much of which was, sadly, inaccurate.)

But let's talk about the ordinary Americans who Trump called out during his speech. The White House called them "special guests." They sat in the balcony next to First Lady Melania Trump, whose lovely and very telegenic white suit became a story in itself. It has become common practice in State of the Union speeches to invite war heroes, police officers, business owners, crime victims, or harried homeowners to sit in the balcony to illustrate one point or other. From a public speaking standpoint, this is both good and bad. In this post, I'll show what was good about this speaking technique.

Why It Is Good to Showcase Ordinary Americans in the SOTU?

The State of the Union speech tends to be filled with generalities, over-generalizations, exaggerations, inaccurate statistics, promises, and unrealistic policies that mean little to anybody. This has been true for years, and Trump's speech was no exception. Consider, for example, this important but soporific passage from Mr. Trump's SOTU speech:

"In recent months, my administration has met extensively with both Democrats and Republicans to craft a bipartisan approach to immigration reform. Based on these discussions, we presented Congress with a detailed proposal that should be supported by both parties as a fair compromise."

This was a perfectly reasonable thing to say, but it doesn't raise your heartbeat, does it?

In contrast, when Mr. Trump talked about ordinary Americans, he could bring his points home, showing the human side of America's problems and the potential benefits that his ideas could create.
Here are a few of the ordinary Americans from this speech: 

1. Mr. Trump introduced Staff Sergeant Justin Peck who risked his life to rescue a comrade during Middle East fighting. This illustrated the fight against ISIS:  "Kenton Stacy would have died if it were not for Justin's selfless love for his fellow warrior. Tonight, Kenton is recovering in Texas. Raqqa is liberated and Justin is wearing his new Bronze Star with a "V" for valor." He continued that "Terrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil." So, the message reached a moral level: ISIS was evil, while the American hero was good, and our side is winning. Staff Sergeant Peck's face, shown on television, made the news event become real and moving.

Corey Adams

2. Touting the tax cut bill that he had signed, Mr. Trump mentioned a welder, Corey Adams, "an all-American worker," who was, Mr. Trump said, buying a house with the tax cut: "Corey plans to invest his tax cut raise into his new home, and his two daughters' education. Corey, please stand." This showed that the tax cut, which Democrats and independent analysts say mostly helped the rich, was also helping a working American.

3. Mr. Trump also introduced the parents of two teenage girls who were murder victims of the vicious MS-13 gang. Since many MS-13 members are immigrants, this showed the harms of immigration--one of Mr. Trump's signature issues. Instead of giving numbers and crime statistics, Mr. Trump introduced the bereaved parents. The heartbroken parents cried during this part of the speech, making the immigration issue more emotional, more real, and more powerful.

And so forth.  These were only three of the ordinary Americans highlighted during the SOTU speech.

So, Meanwhile...

These personal stories made policies seem real. Audiences can identify with personal examples more easily than they can identify with numbers and generalities. We don't always care about statistics, policies, or promises, but most of us do care about other people. The actual people appeared on television during the speech. Viewers had someone to care about.

So, that's the good side. In my next post, later today, I'll show why giving examples of ordinary Americans is not always a good public speaking method.

Images from WhiteHouse.gov