28 August 2020 #MAGAanalysis

Some Morning After Thoughts On @realDonaldTrump's Speech And Speaking Cadence

There are times when I point out disagreements I hold over the Campaign and our leader, but always in private, or even more often just in silence. He has critics enough.

2) I pay a price for this, as I appear to many to be a sycophant. I hope you know I do not enjoy that appearance, but it's a price I'm willing to pay, and will again today. You will read a rousing endorsement here, not just of our leader, but of his speech and cadence last night.

3) As to the entire convention, it made me consider deeply, I was tempted again to register as a proud Republican. I remain registered as an Independent, but the more Trump takes over the party, the less reason I have to not join.

4) It was amazing to discover that I prefered this format to the traditional format. Sure, it would have been great to have people in the audience, yet in the silence of that spectacular auditorium there is a deep dignity and solemn power.

5) The sequence of speakers, their diversity in every possible category, and of course, most especially the everyday people standing in front of that powerful podium, lifting their voices, sharing their stories, and pledging their support. It was truly beautiful.

6) Turning to the 70-minute speech that the post-event commentators and talking heads seemed to agree too long, flat, and for some, even boring. I turned the TV off rapidly. They just couldn't be more wrong. What they utterly missed was the seriousness and sobriety of the moment.

7) I won't attempt to recount or review or assess any of his substantive points. It is the man himself I'll speak about, and most especially his cadence of speaking.

Think of a Trump rally. In the best way, think of Trump the Ringmaster of the wonderful circus.

8) There was absolutely not one iota of that master of the stage present, in that mode, last night. And don't for a second think that was a to-teleprompter or not-to-teleprompter decision alone. Yes, he did teleprompter, as he rightly should have. Perfect decision.

9) And don't for one moment imagine the 70-minute speech came as a surprise to anyone involved. Pace of speaking and word count are the easiest things to project for total time elapse. He knew. His team knew. They made choices, and I say they made the right ones.

10) You probably already know this, but there is a single term that unlocks the strategy. That word is:

PRESIDENTIAL

Who remembers when in 2016 Trump told us he could be so presidential we'd all be bored? His style was a promise kept.

11) But I wasn't bored at all. I imagine most of you weren't either. Here's the pattern, in close to a monotone voice, with just perfectly evenly spaced words. Let me define that a bit more. He spoke each word in close to the same amount of time as the one in front and to follow.

12) Do you know the terms "staccato" and "sonorous?" Think of a drum. A drum stick is staccato, a wire brush is sonorous. Think of a violin. The bow is sonorous. If you pluck the strings with your fingers, you get staccato.

Trump chose sonorous for last night's speech.

13) And do think maestro. Trump is the world's greatest master of public speaking. In his previous life, he was the highly paid speaker in history, and was always in greatest demand that he do so. I have no idea how he makes his delivery decisions. I just see the master's work.

14) Getting back to the pattern. You know, as opposed to the words expressed in close to equal time, each, it was really more the very syllables of each word defining the beat count of each sentence. Smooth, equal syllables, flowing in the mid-range of his vocal pitch, first.

15) That is, in the premise part of the sentence, however long or short, he's walking gently but with raw, global power in hand, over each component of the issue in focus before a pause comes, and the sentence leads towards its end and his voice pitch drops, gently.

16) In just about every case, Trump tells us what has occured, is occurring, or will occur, given such and such conditions. That's the first part. Pause. Voice drops to a lower pitch and what comes at the end? Variations on a theme of:

I will take care of this.

17) Note that it is both pitch and volume that drops. This technique forces you to instinctively lean in, forward, to receive an important promise confidentially. It is targeted at you, specifically, personally. It ensures absolute maximum credibility. And not just through style.

18) This is a self-correcting technique. Here's how. Sure, anything can be faked. Liars can master these techniques to a certain degree too. But a trained ear spots that in a heartbeat. Liars out themselves when using these vocal tools. I could list a few, but no need.

19) The raw power of the method is that, it simply damn well better be true, period. If you use that method, and lie, bad things will happen, and it will come back against you, eventually. The saying is, karma is a bitch. It is.

20) The second half of the sentence takes on a light staccato, hardly noticeable, that might look like this:

I...will...take...care...of...this.

21) When you start to put it all together, you see the greatest speaker on earth, who also happens to be its most powerful man, at the greatest location on earth, giving the most serious speech of our lifetimes. And now, you're going to criticize it was about 50 minutes too long?

22) I say no. A 20-minute rally speech would have 100% UTTERLY MISSED the quality and caliber of the moment. Trump has been telling us all week long. This is the most serious election of our lives. He has compared and contrasted freedom against socialism.

23) All week we've heard the voices of those who faced tyranny, left it, came here legally, became loyal citizens, and are where to warn us what we face if we allow Joe Biden and crew to run the show. We will lose our freedom, we will lose our nation, they told us.

24) So there in front of the greatest palace of government in the world, and facing the Washington Monument and the great mile of our very government itself, Trump faced the world, but spoke to us. It was a performance, and an act of righteous power that no other soul could do.

25) We've talked about it before. Who remembers Reagan and Mondale, and that smile on Mondale's face when he knew he'd just lost the coming election in that very moment, but couldn't help but crack up? I remember that smile. I saw it again last night, during the fireworks.

26) Guess what. Everyone loves fireworks, even Juan Williams, and he was smiling. And when Bret asked him about them, he laughed with boyish joy. That, my friends, that is what victory looks like. That's the mark of a man in his full power, a true professional. Trump has this.

27) Getting older, I have less fire in my own belly to drive somewhere and fight the crowds to go see fireworks. Well, last night, at least for the moment, took a few years off me and put a little fire in my belly. Wouldn't you love to have been there for those fireworks? Wow!

28) Now go back to Trump's speech. He absolutely knows what's coming, almost down to the second. He knows that he'll have been the Sunday pastor that left a few heads nodding for those whose attention don't span quite that long. And he knows what he's going to do.

29) Can you see it? Long, monotone speech first. The most amazing fireworks you have ever seen second. That is called planning. Not one thing, not one moment was left to chance. Let's linger there, and jump back in time to reality TV and The Apprentice.

30) Myself, I never watched a single episode. I just don't do reality TV. But when I was studying Trump's life before I gave him my support, it dawned upon me that you run the nation on TV. The Presidency is the greatest reality TV show of all. Maybe it's Actuality TV.

31) Being a reader, I read his books. And when I finished his four books on politics, I discovered that, to my eye, he was the most well-prepared man in America for the Presidency. That was when the reality TV qualification blew my mind. And what was Reagan? An actor.

32) Well friends, no, I don't have the data yet, so I can't make my call that way. But, it's just about the easiest, low risk call I can make that 2020 will NOT give us a 46th President. Not gonna happen. You cannot defeat what we saw this week. It's called a juggernaut.

33) One last juxtaposition for you. Here's Washington and every little boy and girl inside is jumping up and down for joy no matter what their adult political party dictates they do to the contrary, on one hand. The other? Kenosha burns. Consider the two different forms of fire.

34) At the end of the long, hard summer of conflict, sadness, depression, and despair, we see the results of the Biden path and how it leads to Kenosha. Even small town America will burn. Or...

35) So, please, hit me up with some data, and help me get to the point where I make my data-driven call. Head over to my poll, and push everyone you know there too. Let's get this show on the road. The show must go on. http://BetweenTheLines.Vote 

Thread ends at #35.