Fogg Assignment- Obama Speaks at Democratic National Convention 2004

For this post, I dipped into the archives of speech videos that have had a major impact in our society. The opportunity to view a speech in hindsight and to see its effects on society adds to the analysis of the speech through the BJ Fogg model of behavior.

I chose the following speech because of the rich content it contains for analysis as well as the opportunity it will create for discussion or contention in this class. As much as people now say they dislike Obama and his “reign”, he understands what it takes to persuade and motivate people to action. At least he did in 2004 when he gave his now famous speech at the Democratic National Convention.

 

B J Fogg’s model takes the chaos of psychological theories and puts them into an understandable order. He groups concepts into three areas, motivations, abilities, and triggers. All of these must happen at the same moment in order to affect the desired behavior. He believes that when a behavior does not happen it is because one of these three main elements are missing.  

In the speech given by then Senator Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, we will show how he used each of these main elements of Fogg’s model to affect behavior. We will also look at any of the process premises used through this speech to determine their effectiveness. 

To begin we will look at the motivations described in the speech. Obama began with the story of his own family and how he and his family were able to rise above the pain of the oppressed to triumph and succeed in this country. In each instance he related how these same things have happened to everyone else out there. His message was that he is just like everyone else. 

He furthered the concepts of motivation by making a claim on hope. He explained that because we live in such a great country like America that we can always hope for something better. We can all use the freedoms enumerated by the Constitution to gain a greater hope for a better future. These inspiring phrases hit all of the hot buttons of motivation while dispelling fears of failure. 

He finished off the speech with the claim that we are all one. We are one America. We are one in purpose, not Republican and Democrat. We are not Red and Blue states. We are a United States. This image follows Fogg's concept of social acceptance. Challenging his audience to come together and be united in purpose is a great motivator to action. 

The next element necessary in Fogg's model cover abilities, or as Fogg also calls them the simplicity factors. These factors relate to things like time, money, and physical effort. Obama related again and again stories about how nice it would be when people could have their health care taken care of and going to college without worrying about how to pay for it. He mentioned that people were willing to make the effort, but the government should be there to help them to the top. Government would take away the hurdles that now stand in the way of people who truly want to succeed. He also focused peoples attention toward how quickly this hope and success could be achieved by sharing how quickly his success had come. 

The last element in Fogg's formula is the triggers that facilitate the action. This speech was for the nomination of John Kerry, yet every part of his speech pointed toward an action reflecting his intention to put himself up as the hope and change that this country needed at the time. The context and environment at the time was the facilitator for the needed spark. The spark was seen by his quick rise to stardom in the political world. This speech was a signal to the world that it was time for change. It was time to progress forward and chart a new course for America. People saw that spark in him. They felt like he really could bring them what he was proposing. They wanted him to bring a brighter future of hope and success instead of pain and misery that they had felt through years of war. The timing was perfect for the speech and Obama capitalized on it. 

When we look at this speech through the lense of process premises, there are many aspects that Obama used that were effective in motivating his audience further than just that of Fogg's model. He tied in many of the needs mentioned by Vance Packard. He began with a sense of roots by sharing stories of his family's American heritage. He rolled in a lot of emotional security as he talked of hope for a better future. He gave his audience a sense of power and a reassurance of worth as he shared how he is just like everyone else and how even he has been given a place here in our society. He built up the audience's ego by telling them that they have the ability to be as great as their efforts can carry them.

He also used emotion to carry his message to the hearts of his audience. He focused his attention on the more positive emotions in his speech like happiness and joy. He allowed them to feel a great pride in themselves and their country as he would lead them, through John Kerry, to a brighter future and a better America. 

Obama created dissonance in the minds of his audience by suggesting that things were all right now, but they could be so much better. He then suggested a solution of hope is the only thing that would fill the emptiness created by the lack of harmony that he had just suggested was in them. This was one of the most powerful tools in this speech.  

I know that I have looked at this speech from hindsight and know how it turned out in the next ten years or so. Despite this perspective, I feel that the objective view of this speech is that it hits all of the major elements needed in order to be a great motivational speech. It hit every one of Fogg's elements for affecting behavioral change in people and society. This speech is what propelled him into the spotlight and onto the stage of national politics and then onto the White House four years later. He was able to do this years before Fogg even came up with his theories and model. (Maybe he took a class from professor Young.) Whatever may have happened, I stand on the belief that this is one of the best motivational political speeches given in many decades.