This blog was originally published on Forbes as Bill Clinton’s Master Lesson In Laundry Lists on Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
One of the best compliments an actor can give another actor is that he or she can recite a telephone directory and make it exciting. Bill Clinton deserves a similar compliment for his eloquent delivery of an endorsement speech for his wife last night at the Democratic National Convention that was essentially a laundry list of her resume. In his 40-minute presentation on behalf of Hillary, aspiring to be the 45th president, the 42nd pulled out all his old rhetorical stops and returned—after a few recent stumbles—to his winning form.
His approach was simple but artful. He framed the laundry list within a narrative of their history as a couple, starting from the moment they met as students at Yale University Law School and proceeded through their courtship, marriage, child-rearing, and beyond. But he punctuated each step of their personal story with one of her professional achievements to validate her strengths as a candidate. He gave that positioning an added dimension by humorously deprecating his own record, barely mentioning his two terms as the Governor of Arkansas and two terms as the President of the United States. Within that frame, he also embroidered their many milestones with intimate anecdotes that he related with his familiar folksy Southern drawl that became more pronounced as the speech proceeded.
The combined effect was a seemingly soft, rambling memoir that moved with all the thrust of a bullet train to deliver his message.
A master class from a master.
This blog was originally published on Forbes as Bill Clinton’s Master Lesson In Laundry Lists on Wednesday, July 27, 2016.