Communication is measured in impact not minutes. But your words will always miss the mark if you don’t watch the clock.
Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, former president Bill Clinton spoke for 27 minutes. He was allotted 12. He rambled and roamed.
Pete Buttigieg spoke for just seven. He made every second count.
There could hardly be a clearer contrast between a fading star and a rising one.
Buttigieg’s opening joke underscored why:
“I’m Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News.”
Nowadays, few politicians are willing to play, let alone relish, the political equivalent of an away game. They prefer the comforts of a carefully scripted video filmed by their staff or an interview with friendly outlets whose questions are so soft they might as well be asking for a selfie.
But not Buttigieg.
Over the past few years, he has carved out a meaningful niche by his willingness to go toe-to-toe with Conservative commentators on Fox. In doing so, he has cemented his reputation as one of the finest political communicators in America.
His success isn’t just about talent — it’s about a method we can all learn from. Beyond politics, these tactics are valuable in business, negotiations, and perhaps most importantly, at the Thanksgiving dinner table when debating with relatives who hold opposing political views
Out of a sizable bag of tricks, here are just four.
Never accept a bad premise
Political cable news shows, especially of the American vintage, are not celebrity podcasts. It’s not a conversation; it’s a rhetorical jousting match, where the premise to every question is loaded.
Accepting a faulty or uncharitable premise is like trying to win a rigged carnival game. You’re doomed from the start.
Buttigieg always fights for the right framing. And he only answers the questions he wants to. Here’s a perfect example from his recent interview this past week with Fox’s Lawrence Jones:
Jones: I just want to know when did you guys (the Democrats) know that the President (Biden) was unfit to be on your ticket?
Buttigieg: The President is not unfit.
Jones: So why is he not the nominee right now?
Buttigieg: Because he did something Donald Trump cannot comprehend, which is to put his ego aside.
He dismissed the first question. He welcomed the second.
Know the facts and when and how to deploy them
To be sure, evidence counts for less these days. Political discussions are more about sound bites and less about substance. But Buttigieg has resurrected the rhetorical might of well deployed facts.
In that same interview, Jones attempted to infer that the murder rate in Chicago was the result of Democratic leadership.
Jones: There were over 20 people shot last week …
Buttigieg: Then why would we elect leaders that won’t do anything about gun violence?
Jones: It’s the Democrats that run this city!
Buttigieg: People try to cherry-pick this for partisan purposes. You want to play that game? … I could go around saying that the murder rate in Mississippi is double what it is in Illinois because Mississippi has a Republican governor and Illinois has a Democratic governor. But you and I both know it just doesn’t work that way.
When you know the facts, you can wield them to disarm your opponent and shift the narrative in your favour.
Use transitions to deliver your message
There are two types of transition lines. The first category is of strategic emphasis — i.e. “I see it differently,” “It’s actually really simple.” In the second category, you seize upon a single word or concept in your opponent’s question or rebuttal. Buttigieg is a master of both. He uses the latter with enormous skill to turn the tables.
If his opponents discuss Biden’s “promises” for instance, Buttigieg will often use it to underline the economic promises Trump broke and highlight the promise he kept to “destroy the right to choose.” Simple, yet deadly effective.
Employ the personal
Buttigieg speaks about his war record. His family life. The pride of fatherhood.
It’s credible, it’s authentic, it’s impossible to challenge. And it’s as effective in a combative interview as it is for the home crowd. Here’s what he told them towards the conclusion of his speech.
“I’m thinking of dinner time at our house in Michigan, when the dog is barking and the air fryer is beeping … It’s the part of our day when politics seems the most distant. And yet, the makeup of our kitchen table, the existence of my family, is just one example of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago when an anxious teenager growing up in Indiana wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world.”
Conventions are not only about the current ticket, they’re also about the next one. Obama brought down the house in Boston in 2004, he was the candidate by 2008.
If he keeps communicating like this, Pete Buttigieg will be the next one after Kamala Harris.
And if you use his tactics, your relatives will be going home licking their wounds this Thanksgiving.
