Years ago I provided consulting and speech writing for a local politician. At one point he asked me how he should address an issue that was sure to be raised during an upcoming event.
The issue was a hot topic in his district. It was on everyone’s mind. It had been discussed and dissected in depth. It was also controversial.
“Tell me where you stand on the issue,” I said, “and I’ll help you fashion a position statement.”
Without pausing, the politician turned to his chief adviser and asked, “Where do I stand on it?”
That was our final meeting.
Where do you stand?
When giving a speech there is no neutral ground, no objective position, no noncommittal perspective.
Speakers worth listening to take a stand. They don’t just state the facts as objectively as possible and let listeners make up their own mind. They stake out a position and advocate it passionately.
There are three basic ways of taking a stand during a speech.
- We can stand with.
We can align ourselves with people or with a particular group of people — with their concerns, values, welfare. When President Kennedy spoke to the people of Berlin during the height of the Cold War, he declared, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” staking out his solidarity with the citizens of the divided city. - We can stand for.
We can speak in favor or in defense of an issue, cause, policy,initiative or program. President Lyndon Johnson, a son of the segregated South, addressed Congress in 1965 and urged it to strike down laws that kept blacks from voting. “I speak tonight for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy,” he said. - We can stand against.
We can oppose something — a policy, an accepted attitude, a way of doing business — refusing to tolerate what we consider wrongheaded or abhorrent. In President Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, he stood with the grieving congregation, for racial justice, and against bigotry and its accompanying violence.
We stand on our principles, on our deep and abiding beliefs, on our gut-level predispositions.
Our audiences should never have to guess where we stand. And we should never have to turn to anyone else and ask, “Where do I stand?”
