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The iron fist in the velvet glove
Political rhetoric
Simon Lancaster offers a
Shakespearean masterclass in
parliamentary speechwriting
Members and Quentin Letts. Parliamentary speaking calls for a far
more subtle and sophisticated approach, which is what Marc Antony
serves up.
His speech represents the pinnacle of the art of persuasion and has
rarely been bettered, in life or in art. From it, five principles emerge
which are relevant for parliamentary speechwriting.
First, respect your audience.
Instead of ramming his
opinions home, Antony weaves
All of the greatest
his suggestions around the
audience’s existing beliefs
parliamentary
and opinions, leading them to
speeches place the
believe they are reaching their
Commons, not the
own conclusions about Caesar’s
execution, rather than having
speaker, as the
Antony’s views thrust upon them.
chief protagonist
This gives them a crucial
in the drama. By
feeling of control, although it
pivoting the speech
is clearly only an illusion, as
Antony himself acknowledges
on the audience,
with the wicked aside: ‘Mischief
the speaker gains
thou art afoot!’
the leverage to
All of the greatest
parliamentary speeches place
shift their opinions
the Commons, not the speaker,
as the chief protagonist in the drama. By pivoting the speech on the
audience, the speaker gains the leverage to shift their opinions. This is
what Tony Blair did in his extraordinary speech on the eve of the Iraq
war, when he made himself a mere pawn in the hands of the mighty
Commons.
Second, don’t be proud. Whereas Brutus’ speech effectively invites
the audience to bathe in the glow of his own magnificence, Antony
“
S
hakespeare was a master in the art of political rhetoric. And the
forum scene of Julius Caesar (Act 3, Scene 2) is its apogee, with
the eulogies of Brutus and Marc Antony presenting textbook
models of the perfect party conference and parliamentary speech
respectively.
Brutus’ speech is vain, proud and glorious. It is stuffed with crowdpleasing tropes, including the sky-scraping ‘Not that I loved Caesar
less, but that I loved Rome more’.
And it is built almost entirely on value statements, without any
concern for detail. In fact, Brutus makes it through the whole speech
without once touching on the rather pertinent and killer fact – namely,
who murdered Julius Caesar.
Such techniques can and would lift the roof of any party
conference – and indeed they did this year, in the speeches of Gordon
Brown, Peter Mandelson and David Cameron.
But this kind of pomposity and flourish would not do at all in the
chamber: not under the merciless glare of Mr Speaker, honourable
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humbly says: ‘I am no orator like Brutus... you all know me as a plain,
blunt man.’
Such modesty is very British and very effective. We all know that
pride comes before a fall: Parliament has witnessed this on many
occasions, as seen recently in the roaring laughter when Gordon
Brown got his words in a twist and claimed to have ‘saved the world’.
A little humility improves the speaker’s credibility and enhances the
persuasive strategy.
Third, respect your opponents. It is a sign of Antony’s adroitness
that he never once sinks to overtly insulting Brutus, even though his
argument fundamentally requires him to impugn his rival’s honour.
Instead, Antony deliberately inflates Brutus’ stature with the refrain:
‘And Brutus is an honourable man’, allowing the puncture to be
inflicted via piercing logic.
‘Attack dog’ speeches are easy to write and can serve a purpose,
successfully uniting fragmented party conferences. But in the House,
such viciousness invariably leads to a ‘murder-suicide’ outcome where
both sides come out worse, as some of the Commons’ more fractious
pairings (e.g. Ed Balls and Michael Gove) demonstrate.
Parliament requires dignity and respect; or, as Bishop Russell
said at the opening of Edward V’s first Parliament in 1484, Members
should always ‘hearken amiably to one another’.
Fourth, get the argument right. It is ultimately the force of logic
which makes Antony’s argument prevail. As one of the crowd mutters:
‘Methinks there is much reason in what he is saying.’
In conference speeches, logic can be an afterthought: they are often
stuffed to the brim with false premises, sweeping generalisations and
loaded language – and no-one either notices or cares.
Not so in parliamentary speeches, where the audience is more
sceptical. Fellow Members can and will pounce on any fallacy.
Speeches must be deeply researched to minimise the risk of loose
planks in the argument.
Fifth, in extremis, use rhetorical figures. If the attention of Members
is slipping away, rhetorical figures can bring them back to life.
Speechwriting do’s and don’ts
Do
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Charlton Heston as Roman general Marc Antony in a 1969 film version of
Julius Caesar. Marc Antony’s eulogy to Caesar provides a perfect template
for a parliamentary speech, says Simon Lancaster
Shakespeare demonstrated the three most powerful rhetorical
figures in the opening, unforgettable 16 words of Antony’s speech.
‘Friends, Romans, Countrymen’, is a sublime example of the ‘rule
of three’. ‘Lend me your ears’ is an exquisite example of ‘imagery’.
And ‘I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him’, is a terrific example
of ‘contrast’.
More recent parliamentary examples of these same tricks include
‘Education, Education, Education’, ‘Roadblock to reform’ and ‘From
Stalin to Mr Bean’.
These tricks make your messages rise above the crowd. They can,
should and will give your messages a bang, not a whimper.
Mario Cuomo, the ex-Governor of New York, once lamented that
politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Yet, by crafting
Antony’s speech in poetry and leaving Brutus’ in prose, Shakespeare
clearly showed us the superior persuasive powers of poetry. Maybe
the final lesson, from this one great national institution to another, is
that the political can be enhanced by the poetical.
.
Simon Lancaster runs Bespoke Speechwriting Services, a
specialist speechwriting consultancy
[email protected] www.bespokespeeches.com
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