For a ‘publicity shy’ guy, Trump knows how to do publicity
NEW YORK — Hillary Clinton has said it herself: She’s not the most naturally gifted public communicator.
“I am not a natural politician, in case you haven’t noticed, like my husband or President Obama,” she said in March.
Yet her first public speech was a star-making one, landing her in a Life magazine write-up at the tender age of 21. She was a senior at Wellesley, the first student chosen to address a commencement there. Unhappy with the words of the U.S. senator invited to speak before her, she parried with an unplanned rebuke, before launching into her prepared remarks. It was unscripted and rather audacious.
Nearly 50 years later, Clinton is facing the most important debates of her life as she squares off against Donald Trump beginning Monday — three high-stakes contests that could set the momentum for the remainder of the presidential campaign.
What kind of communicator has she become in those years since Wellesley, the last 30 or so in the public eye? That first speech is significant, says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, because it shows how even a college-age Clinton was able to think on her feet and jump on the moment — a key asset in a debate.
Clinton also showed, and has honed for years, a propensity to engage the other side, to argue and counter-argue like a lawyer, Jamieson says — not surprising, since her next stop after Wellesley was a law degree at Yale.
But along with those and other obvious strengths — such as the depth of her preparation — Clinton can sound scripted, especially in contrast to her husband, a gifted empathizer. “’I feel your pain’ — that was a joke line about Bill Clinton, but some people have to work harder at it than others,” Jamieson says. “It was more natural for Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton than it is for Hillary Clinton.”
Then, of course, there’s the persistent description of Clinton “lecturing” — or worse, “yelling.” Many counter that this particular description is inextricably wound up in gender perceptions.
“I don’t think one can talk about anything related to Hillary Clinton where gender is not (a factor), whether it’s conscious or not,” says Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University.
“What you constantly hear about is her yelling,” Tannen says. “But of course, candidates all yell. They have to.”
Tannen says Clinton — like other women in authority — is subject to a “double bind,” meaning whatever she does is going to violate either expectations for how a woman should speak, or how a leader should.
In other words, for a female candidate, appearing tough and empathetic at the same time is a challenge.
DEBATE
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump once claimed to be publicity shy. No joke. It’s right there in The New York Times of Nov. 1, 1976. In the same article, the 30-year-old real estate developer talks up his millions, showcases his penthouse apartment and Cadillac, and allows a reporter to tag along as he visits job sites and lunches at the “21” club before hopping an evening flight to California for more deal-making.
So much for that shyguy claim.
Young and ambitious, Trump worked just as hard at building his image as he did at expanding his real estate empire.
Along the way, he honed the communications skills that would benefit him in business, turn him into a reality TV star and launch a presidential campaign.
He’ll put them to the ultimate test as he goes one-on-one with Hillary Clinton in three nationally televised debates over the next month.
Trump, who’d never participated in a debate before the presidential primaries, is keeping his preparations for Monday’s leadoff general-election debate low key.
“Really, you’re preparing all of your life for these,” he told Fox Business Network recently. “You’re not preparing over a two-week period and cramming.”
Experts on public speaking find all kinds of faults with Trump’s oratory: His vocabulary is juvenile, his syntax is jumbled, he’s casual about accuracy, he’s demeaning, his voice is thin and nasal, he’s weak on policy details and more.
And yet, Aaron Kall, who directs the University of Michigan’s Debate Institute and debate team, will venture to tell you this: “He performs like a maestro.”
“He’s a media natural,” says Kall, who edited a book about Trump’s primary debate performances. “He really understands audiences and tailors a message to what he thinks that they want to hear.”
Long before NBC’s “The Apprentice” turned Trump into a reality TV star in 2004, he was advancing his biz-whiz image in TV and movie cameos, chatting up Howard Stern on the radio and filming ads for Pizza Hut, McDonald’s and more. Then, over 14 seasons of “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” he sharpened his ability to work the camera, think on his feet and promote the Trump brand.
As a presidential candidate, he’s drawn on those same skills to keep himself in the news, dishing out provocations and insults sure to guarantee the public’s attention.
“Across his history, he evolved from a builder to a brand,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “He would not be successful were it not for his ingenuity at securing publicity.”
WASHINGTON —