As the world braces itself for a second Donald Trump Presidency, there must be some communication lessons which can be drawn from the successful campaigning that’s led up to it.
This is the case even if we didn’t realise just how effective some of Donald Trump’s communication methods were being at the time.
Of course, an electorally successful campaign involves many things beyond communication.
And there’s much about the broader Trump political style which I assume you would never want to incorporate into your approach to business.
This includes characteristics such as being careless with truth, being predictably erratic, displaying too much anger, coming across as racist and misogynist, and appearing at times to be totally unhinged and worse!
But if we focus solely on communication matters, there are clearly things Donald Trump did which proved to be remarkably effective in connecting with – and persuading – his target audiences.
Without embracing the whole Trump approach, here are a few of his individual communication methods which are certainly worth noting – because he made them work…
+ Keeping it simple
It’s very easy to lose an audience of one – or many – by going into too much complexity or giving too much detail.
Donald Trump seems to know this.
+ Focusing on what interests your audience
The president-elect often focuses on things which he knows will be of interest to those he’s targeting.
The following video shows candidate Trump speaking at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania fairly soon after that assassin’s bullet had grazed his ear.
He’s talking very simply about the protective glass which had been put in place aimed at foiling any future bullets – and taking a crack at the news media as he does so.
What he says is low key, easily followable and seems to captivate his audience.
+ Speaking at an easy-to-absorb pace
It’s also worth noting that Donald Trump often speaks in an animated way but at a fairly slow pace.
Whether or not you agree with any particular point he’s making, this cautious speed makes each point ever-so-easy to grasp.
+ Reflecting people’s real-life problems
It’s tempting to believe that someone with Donald Trump’s lifestyle could quickly become out of touch with the problems of ordinary people.
But for someone of such affluence, he often spoke on the campaign trail in a way that reflects the challenges of his target audience.
In the world of communication theory, this is called “hitting a reflective chord”.
In the following video interview – conducted during a campaign stop in Arizona – you can watch Donald Trump putting this “chord-hitting” into practice when he discusses the effects higher energy prices are having on the local population.
The kind of communication methods identified above are all learnable and improvable.
They can be picked up and practised in communication-boosting sessions run on a one-to-one basis or in group workshops.
The full range of such sessions is displayed here:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/michael-dodd-services/
Communication-enhancing talks can also be given at events such as company conferences:
https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/speaking-at-your-event/
Meanwhile, let’s not lose sight of the communication skills of the other leading contender in the 2024 U.S. election – a candidate who may well have won if non-Americans around the world were allowed to vote.
If you would like some inspiration from a hard-to-do performance when things haven’t gone your way, check out this graciously positive and uplifting concession speech from Kamala Harris.
This was the kind of speech which Donald Trump was never able to make when he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden but refused to admit it.
And while Donald Trump is far from the kind of role model who Kamala Harris would ever adopt, her speech does perhaps show that seeking to run in 2028 – in the wake of this defeat – is something she may well attempt….however Trump-like this might appear!