Analysis of a Speech by Khizr Khan

Of the 204 speeches that were delivered at the 2016 Republican and Democratic Conventions in the United States—71 by Republicans and 133 by Democrats—one has stood out. I refer to the speech by Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim-American soldier who was killed in Iraq.

Khizr Khan
Ghazala and Khizr Khan

Mr. Khan spoke on the final day of the Democratic Convention. With his wife standing beside him, he delivered a short, but powerful speech in which he strongly rebuked Donald Trump and many of his policies. Trump has responded by criticizing Khan and, in so doing, has drawn harsh criticism, including from within the Republican party.

Given that the speech has received so much attention, it is worth taking a closer look at it. The video of the speech is below and the analysis follows.

What I liked

  • The fact that Khan was able to speak about his deceased son in front of millions of people (at the convention and on television) took incredible courage. It could not have been easy for him to maintain his composure the way he did.
  • Before beginning to speak, Khan waited almost a full minute while the audience was applauding. James Humes calls this the “power pause”. “[S]tage some silence before you speak,” writes Humes. “Much like an actor might convey a character of stature, you can enhance your credibility through the way you act. … Every second you wait will strengthen the impact of your opening words.”
  • I respect his wife, Ghazala Khan, who stood beside him but never spoke. Normally, you don’t have someone standing beside you when delivering a speech because it can be distracting. However, given that the speech was about their son and about Muslims in the United States, I thought it appropriate that she be there. Of course, Donald Trump has tried to make political gain about the fact that she did not speak, but his ploy has hurt him more than it has helped.
  • On that note, the reason why Ghazala Khan did not speak was because, 12 years after her son’s death, it is still too painful for her to talk about it without breaking down. So she did the right thing by not speaking. It is perfectly OK to show emotion when you speak; however, if you are going to fall apart when speaking about a particular subject, you should until you can do so while remaining in control. A good example in this regard, is Monica Lewinsky’s TED Talk.
  • Before Khizr Khan spoke, the Democrats showed a two-minute video in which Hillary Clinton told the story of their deceased son. Yes, it was carefully scripted. Yes, it played on emotion with the images and music. But it is an emotional story. More importantly, the video helped put Khizr Khan’s speech into context and it spared him the need to recount the details of his son’s death, something that may well have been too hard for him to do. And, it allowed him to focus on the bigger message.
  • He made excellent eye contact with the audience and spoke without notes or a teleprompter.
  • He had some memorable lines which have been quoted thousands of times on social media and in the mainstream press, including a couple of powerful rhetorical questions (erotema) for Donald Trump:

Let me ask you: have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America.

  • Khizr Khan concluded with a clear call to action for the audience. He urged people not to take the election lightly, to get out and vote and to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Suggestions

  • Khan spoke in a strong, steady voice, which is important. However, at times he spoke so slowly that people thought his sentence had come to an end and began applauding. This obliged him to wait a moment, repeat part of the sentence and then give the missing conclusion. The clearest example of this can be seen from 1:10 to 2:05 of the speech.
  • The sentence that Khan wanted to say was: Tonight we are honoured to stand here as parents of Captain Humayun Khan and as patriotic American Muslims, with undivided loyalty to our country.
  • However, he spoke so slowly that people began applauding after “Muslims”. When he then completed the sentence, the subsequent applause was not nearly as powerful. It’s too bad, because the sentence, as written above, is powerful. Speakers should not speak too quickly, but they should not speak too slowly either.
  • From 4:25 to the end of the speech (7:10), Khan gestured repeatedly by pointing his index finger at the audience. He did it 50 to 60 times! Given who he is and what he has been through, I don’t think it detracted from his speech. However, I would not recommend the same approach with your speeches. Repetition of a gesture can be powerful, up to a point. Beyond that point, the gesture becomes more diluted and distracting. And, pointing your finger is something that must be used with caution because in many cultures it can cause offence.
  • At 5:00 of the video above, Khan challenged Donald Trump to “look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law'” as he held out his copy of the Constitution. Trump will have no trouble finding “liberty,” but the phrase “equal protection of law” does not appear in the United States Constitution. Khan was referring to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Section 1 of the Amendment reads as follows:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (Emphasis added.)

  • It is equal protection of “the laws” not “law”. The misquote was minor and did not detract from the meaning of the Amendment. But if you are going to quote a person or a document, you have to get it right.
  • Khizr Khan ended his speech by urging people to vote for Clinton instead of Trump. This is what he said:

And vote for the healer. Vote for the strongest, most qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton, not the divider.

  • With this structure, the speech ends on a negative, telling people what not to do and giving Trump the last mention. It would have been stronger to flip it around to finish on a positive note with Clinton:

Don’t vote for the divider. Vote for the healer. Vote for the strongest, most qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton.

Your final words are important. Whenever possible, frame them in such a way as to end on a positive tone, with the emphasis on what you want.

You can read the text of the speech by Khizr Khan here.

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest
mannerofspeaking

mannerofspeaking

  1. Only part that I agree with is the finger point. Irritated me but rest of the speech, the delivery and the message brought me to tears so a minor nag.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

five × 5 =

Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International