Video Transcript:
00:00 Hello, it's Voice Coach Jessica Neighbor. How are you? I am coming to you live the day (actually 2 days) after the presidential debate.
00:09 I have our two candidates here in freeze frame because I want to take a voice coach perspective to give us a little breakdown for all women who are going to go into a difficult communication setting.
00:28 Be it a debate. Be it in politics or at your work when you're negotiating a job, perhaps you're in a leadership position where you have to talk with somebody, even at home when you need to really set a boundary with someone in your life.
00:43 Kamala Harris did a few key things in the debate that in my opinion make her the clear winner. I also happen to think that former President Trump is a bully when it comes to communication.
00:59 His style is typically ultra-aggressive. He would probably even agree with that. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has to walk the same walk that every woman has to, which is to be strong enough but not be too strong, or else we may get labeled the B word.
01:19 We want to come across as competent and we want to have our voice be powerful, but if we get too loud, we're labeled shrill, which if you start reading some of the feedback that term is already circulating.
01:35 So much to be discussed, let's dive into these few key highlight moments so that all of us can take some of these takeaways for ourselves.
01:45 If she can do this on a national stage and with this guy, we should be inspired to try to do the same.
01:53 Let's get into it. Key moment number one. I want you to notice in this moment just how passionate Kamala Harris is.
02:04 She uses storytelling. her voice. She is telling us her point of view but she is absolutely backing herself up with emotion and passion, which is a key thing that we can all do when we feel very strongly about something.
02:23 “Let's understand how we got here. Thanks, Pianos. She's looking straight at Pianos. She's three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v.
02:33 Wade. And they did exactly as he intended. And now in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans, which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care, in one state, it provides prison for life, Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for r*** and i*****, which understand what that means. A survivor of a crime of violation to their body does not have the right to make a decision about what happens to their body next.That is immoral. “
TAKEAWAY # 1: She Maximizes Her Emotions
She starts talking and setting the stage for where it started with the Supreme Court justices and starts to build in legal terms, but as you notice the emotion starts to take over.
03:20 The momentum starts to build as she's talking about this and she keeps referring to Trump. She keeps tying him to this issue and she points to him.
03:30 she looks at him. He is not responding, but if you watch the whole debate, I don't think he looked at her once.
03:36 I don't think he said her name once. It might have been one of his power plays, but I think this was extremely effective that she was looking at him, that she was trying to make really strong eye contact.
03:47 And when he wasn't returning it, she turned to the camera and looked directly at the camera much more successfully than he did.
03:54 So that's takeaway number one. Be passionate about the things that you truly believe in. Don't feel like you have to be factual and at arm’s length away from your emotions.
04:05 I know sometimes people say that in public speaking in communication, and I don't believe that's true at all.
TAKEAWAY # 2: She Gives a Compliment Sandwich
All right, let's go to the second part of the debate that I think was super duper successful, which is where she remained optimistic while talking about very, very serious things.
04:28 “We don't have to go back. Let's not go back. We're not going back. It's time to turn the page. And if that was a bridge too far for you, well, there is a place in our campaign for you to stand for country, to stand for our democracy, to stand for the rule of law, and to end the chaos, and to end the approach
04:54 That is about attacking the foundations of our democracy because you don't like the outcome and be clear on that point.
05:03 Donald Trump, the candidate, has said in this election there will be a bloodbath. Yes, if this and the outcome of this election is not to his liking, let's turn the page on this.
05:14 Let's not go back. Let's chart a course for the future and not go backward to the past.”
All right, another pro-move here. She starts it up by talking about not going back to the past. Then she lays out her argument about the ways that in the past Donald Trump behaved, especially around election denying and not accepting the election outcome.
05:44 She again is pointing at him. She is looking at him. She is being very assertive while remaining optimistic. So she starts off with this invitation to the viewer to not go back.
05:59 Then she gives pointed examples about why voting for Trump would set us back. And then at the end, she circles back and talks about how we don't want to go back.
06:11 She uses a lot of “we” language. She uses a lot of us versus him language, which in this debate when you have to be very, very assertive, is very successful.
06:23 So that's takeaway number two, that you can be quite critical and bring up some critical things in a critique but in a compliment sandwich as we know.
06:36 So if you think about this it was set up a little you know in a debate style but she sets up the want the positive not going back then explains why and then sets that up again giving us the hard stuff. And so, that's a lot easier to digest than someone who's just slinging a long list of things that their opponent did.
TAKEAWAY # 3: She Asserts and Defends Herself
07:02 Last but not least, I want us to look at this moment. And then I'm going to ask you all to tell me and to think about why it is you think I'm choosing this moment in time.
07:14 “So that, thank you, your time is up. I want to respond to that though, I want to just respond briefly.
07:20 Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump. And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country, one who believes in what is possible, one who brings a sense of optimism about what we can do instead Instead of always disparaging the American people, I believe in
07:44 What we can do to strengthen our small businesses, which is why I have a plan. Let's talk about our plans and let's compare the plans.”
07:55 I want you to think about why you think I highlighted this moment and what jumped out to you that she did in this little sound bite that you think was successful.
08:07 So if we take it back to the beginning, let's just take it a little bit play-by-play. we go.
08:16 Okay, first of all, love that power move. I want to respond I want to respond right so someone else is setting the tone and this happens very often at meetings This happens in conversations.
08:26 We have moved on But if you really need to bring something up you absolutely can't and the way she did it was Still graceful and gracious and, you know, wasn't being an a-hole.
08:39 “Let's continue on. Clearly, I am not Joe Biden and I am certainly not Donald Trump And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”
08:52 Okay. Let's just think about what she did there. He has been trying to tie her to Joe Biden this entire debate.
09:00 And we know why, you know, it makes sense from a political point of view to try to paint her as the same.
09:06 Also, we have heard that Trump is having a very hard time moving on from the fact that Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and that Kamala Harris is the new person and that he can barely pronounce her name or even acknowledge her existence.
09:19 So there was something great about her doing it and doing it in a way that was very, very natural. It felt like her just talking to any old person who's like, ah, hi, I'm here.
09:31 It's great that she adds a little humor in there because it is almost absurd. He's debating someone who isn't in the room and mentions his name more than he ever mentions hers.
09:43 And then she also takes it a step further because she also points out, I'm not you, which then sets up in our mind a kind of image of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, kind of putting them in the same age bracket, the kind of idea of the past, and then introduces herself as a new generation.
10:02 And if you read between the lines, that also means a younger generation. And her whole demeanor, the way she's animated, the way her eyes feel lit up, the way she's making direct eye contact is all very energizing and in contrast to Trump who is using this strong man, alpha male, I'm gonna stomp on my opponent, one note tactic. He does it with everything he has, he does it with his voice, he does it with his, you know, scowl.
10:39 He does it with his body language, the way he just keeps holding on to that podium. There's nothing terribly dynamic going on about him.
10:49 So I think in this moment, again, win for Kamala Harris and also a great final takeaway that we can use, which is when someone is disrespecting us or even dismissing us, we have every right to raise our hand up, to ask to take the floor back, to speak our mind, and to point out that we in fact are here!
11:16 . That is a very effective way to sometimes wake people up who we may be talking with, who are either interrupting us or dismissing us or not really seeing us.
11:25 and a normal person might acknowledge you and want to continue on with a conversation. this debate is high-stakes stake, very intense, but I think from it we can take away some really beautiful golden nuggets for ourselves.
11:43 Whoo, I don't know about you, but I feel relieved. I feel like I can exhale after this debate and wherever you sit on the political line, those are three takeaways that I think Kamala Harris hit out of the park that we can use for our own communication needs.
12:00 All right as usual I wish you all to stay calm, speak on.
Let me know what you thought of the debate!
Were there key moments that I missed that you would like my analysis on?
I am more than happy to discuss this with you!
12:14 All right take care, everyone.
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