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The Art of Persuasion – Arguing for Obamacare
The Supreme Court ruling made Obamacare constitutional but it didn’t make it popular. What can rhetoric — the classic art of persuasion — tell us about crafting an argument for (or against) the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? In this post, I’ll sketch out a persuasive argument for Obamacare. In my next post, I’ll sketch out an argument against it.
A general rule of persuasion is that the simpler argument usually wins the debate. So, if President Obama called me to ask for help crafting the argument for the ACA, I’d say two things: 1) Simplify through analogy, 2) reframe to responsibility. (I’d also tell him to make me Ambassador to Ecuador — that’s what I really want).
Simplify through analogy — the simplest analogy is car insurance. We used to allow people to drive without insurance. To cover the damage caused by uninsured drivers, we set up large uninsured motorist funds supported by taxpayers. Ultimately, we got tired of paying for the carnage caused by uninsured drivers — also known as “free riders”, “deadbeats” and “jerks” — and passed mandate requiring drivers to have some insurance in order to drive. The result? Total costs to “responsible” drivers went down because we had to pay only for our own insurance and not also for uninsured motorists.
Reframe to responsibility — opponents of the ACA have positioned it as an infringement on liberty. Supporters should reframe this to personal responsibility. Everyone should take responsibility for the cost of their own healthcare. If you don’t, you’re a free rider – you pass your costs on to other, more responsible citizens. Those who pay for health insurance are also paying the cost for caring for deadbeats and free riders. Sounds a lot like socialized medicine.
What about the dreaded word, “tax”? The Supremes have labeled the mandate a tax, which is precisely why they’ve said that it’s legal. If supporters of Obamacare try to argue that it’s not a tax, they’ll simply appear to be dissembling which will reduce their persuasiveness. So they need to embrace the word, more or less like this, “Yes, it’s a tax. It’s a tax on irresponsibility. If you choose not to act responsibly, then we’re going to ask you to pay into a kitty that will help defray the costs of your care. It’s your choice. Act responsibly and pay no tax. Or act irresponsibly and pay a small tax. By the way, you’re already paying a tax — you’re paying for everyone who doesn’t have insurance but needs health care. Hospitals can’t turn them away, so they send the bill to you.”
Will it work? Well, look at the next post in this series to see the opposite argument.
Priming Your Audience
What happens when you think about words like “old”, “bald”, “wrinkled”, “retired”, and “Florida”? These are all words associated with old age. When you think about words like these, you start to behave like an older person. Indeed, you even walk more slowly than you would if you had thought about “young” words instead.
It’s an important concept called priming. Your audience is probably thinking about something before you communicate to them. What they’re thinking has a considerable influence on how your message is received.
So what can you do about it? First, you should know what’s on your audience’s mind before you begin, If the audience is positively primed, you may not need to do much more. If they’re negatively primed, however, you’ll need to take a second step and re-prime them. You can do this be carefully choosing the words and images you evoke as you set the stage. Learn more in the video.
Telling a lame joke makes you look lame
I’ve heard a lot of speakers recently who must have been coached to always start a presentation with a joke. They follow this advice to the letter and wind up telling jokes that a) have nothing to do with the topic at hand, and b) aren’t funny. Telling a non-topical, non-funny joke just wastes time. Worse, a lame joke makes you look lame. Find out more in the video:
Q&A – Basic etiquette
You can deliver a superior presentation, but the audience will ultimately decide whether they trust you or not during the Q&A session. If they perceive that you’re answering all questions openly and honestly, you will earn their respect and trust. On the other hand, if you’re defensive or evasive, they’ll start to doubt everything you’ve said. (If he lied about this, what else would he lie about?) To handle the Q&A session effectively, you need to know the basic etiquette. Just watch the video.
Keep it moving
What can we learn from James Bond movies? The Bond movies have plenty of visual entertainment — lots of things to catch your eye and keep your attention. Yet they also move very fast. In Quantum of Solace, the camera moved or the scene changed every 1.7 seconds on average. The lesson? Movement holds your attention. Now compare that to, say, 20 slides that you might use in an hour-long business presentation. That’s an average of three minutes each. Compared to what we’re used to in modern media, that’s slug speed. So, better to use more slides with less information per slide. Every time you click to a new slide, your audience’s attention returns. Better to click more frequently — especially in webinars where there’s nothing else to look at. Learn more in the video.
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