{"id":20807,"date":"2024-01-29T09:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T09:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=20807"},"modified":"2024-01-29T09:34:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T09:34:07","slug":"oprah-winfreys-president-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/oprah-winfreys-president-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"How Oprah Winfrey Communicated Her Choice for President"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2008 American presidential election was historic. It quickly became a brutal primary, and the rhetoric from supporters of the two camps became acrimonious, with many voters caught in the middle.<\/p>\n<p>Oprah Winfrey was no exception, being a prominent Black woman who was already active in politics.<\/p>\n<p>In 2008, she endorsed Barack Obama during a rally at UCLA and, in doing so, addressed some of the criticisms she faced from women who felt that she was betraying a powerful cause: the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, addressing that criticism in a speech shifted the focus to the candidates as people, and had many lessons for those of us aspiring to be great communicators.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yh53UF1xdGg?si=-Cd_-YblUwwaDjUA\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" frameborder=\"&quot;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Take the Bull by the Horns<\/h2>\n<p>Winfrey does not mince words in her speech, opening and closing with the criticism being leveled at her:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou know, after Iowa, some women had the nerve to tell me, \u2018How could you, Oprah? How could you? You&#8217;re a traitor to your gender.\u2019&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Rather than avoiding it, she engages with the criticism directly. She doesn\u2019t duck the comments or return criticism to specific people. She instead simply refers to them as \u201cnarrow-minded,\u201d highlighting the tribalistic nature of those criticisms. This is a speech about rejecting stereotypes in favor of personal opinion and choice.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve often discussed communication as \u201ccommunity building,\u201d which is still 100% true. However, it\u2019s essential not to compromise yourself or your ideals to build an audience. Although sometimes challenging, it&#8217;s possible to address criticisms that might be seen as unfair to ensure the record is correct.<\/p>\n<p>Here, she\u2019s communicating something incredibly important: her right to choose whom to vote for without being drawn into identity or sectarian boundaries. She doesn\u2019t throw this in the face of her detractors; instead, she articulates a reasonable principle:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBut the truth is, I&#8217;m a free woman. I&#8217;m a free woman. I&#8217;m a free woman. I&#8217;m a free woman. And being free means, you get to think for yourself and decide for yourself what to do. So, I say I am not a traitor. No, I&#8217;m not a traitor. I&#8217;m just following my own truth, which has led me to Barack Obama. Oh, yeah. The truth has led me to Barack Obama.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Lean on Other Authorities<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-20798\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama.jpg\" alt=\"Oprah with Barack and Michelle Obama\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Oprah-with-Barack-and-Michelle-Obama-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Authority plays an exciting role in this speech because the people criticizing Winfrey are doing so because they see her as a leader from whom they have expectations. In an intelligent rhetorical turn, Winfrey cites an authority of her own: Pulitzer- and Nobel-winning author Toni Morrison.<\/p>\n<p>Quoting Morrison, Winfrey says that:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;&#8230;Barack exhibits something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race, or gender and something we don&#8217;t see in any other candidate. That something,&#8221; she said, &#8220;is creative imagination. Which, coupled with brilliance, equals wisdom.&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In this four-minute speech, Winfrey diffuses the criticism of voting based on identity to argue that voting and political support are freedoms we all share. In doing this, she leverages her own experience, and the moral authority of Toni Morrison, to show that this is not simple identity politics, but thoughtful consideration of political action.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in a powerful move, she moves back into the personal:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAnd then, this election has just brought out the best in folks &#8217;cause I heard from some narrow-minded folks who said I was just voting for him because he was Black. And I say, that too was insulting to me. Don&#8217;t play me small. I&#8217;m not that small. I&#8217;m not that small. Don&#8217;t play me small. I would never vote for anyone based on gender or race.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to tackle criticism. Go too hard on the defensive, and you\u2019ll seem petty or unsure. Ignore it, and you\u2019ll potentially allow untrue statements to flourish. Here, we can see what it means to tackle criticism effectively\u2026 and, it doesn\u2019t mean simply appeasing the audience.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a real issue for modern marketers. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediatoday.com\/news\/3-creative-ways-to-address-consumer-criticism-on-social-media\/515503\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a world of always-on access and social media<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it\u2019s easy for marketers to get inundated with criticism of their brand or tactics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As Winfrey teaches us, it\u2019s OK to get real, to take that criticism head-on. Does that mean you\u2019re always right? Of course not. But it does mean that if your integrity (or the integrity of your organization or brand) is challenged, you can communicate in a way that\u2019s honest, effective, and powerful.<\/p>\n<h2>Takeaways for Communicators<\/h2>\n<p>In the end, of course, Barack Obama won the nomination and the Presidency, while Clinton would serve as Obama\u2019s Secretary of State.<\/p>\n<p>The squabbling and accusations were quickly forgotten, as Obama and Clinton focused on their jobs over the next eight years. Yet Winfrey\u2019s speech remains as a reminder that even unfair criticism can be addressed, passionately and humanely.<\/p>\n<p>For communicators, the key takeaways are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Clearly articulate what you\u2019re responding to, and attack the criticism itself.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Don\u2019t hide or downplay your feelings, but ensure they\u2019re expressed constructively. (\u201cDon\u2019t play me small.\u201d)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Use personal examples to add authority and authenticity.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">When quoting an authority, let the quote reflect your opinion and bolster support for it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Great communicators use Media Shower platform to help them create blog posts, social posts, press releases, and more. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/user\/free_trial\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click to give us a try<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/user\/free_trial\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-17809 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1.png\" alt=\"Free trial CTA\" width=\"680\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1.png 680w, https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/MediaShower-CTA-1-1-300x106.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oprah Winfrey shows communicators how to decisively reject criticism while leaving space for disagreement and debate in her 2008 endorsement of Barack Obama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":20797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20807"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20810,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20807\/revisions\/20810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}