What did Amanda Gorman and the 192,000 flags at the Biden Inauguration say about how to use power o

Hello and welcome to this episode of Speak PR. My name's Jim James and this is the podcast for getting noticed. We share tools and tips and conversations with people who are getting noticed so that if you want to get noticed, you may pick up some useful ideas. Now, one of the ideas that I want to share today was just the power of words, the power of speech. And the reason this has been driven home is that after a 4-year period of speech being used really for a fair degree of division and hatred in America, we had the joys of listening to Amanda Gorman's poem yesterday. The inauguration was a star-studded cast full of spectacle and full of symbolism. Now, obviously, this is important in light of the events just last week on Capitol Hill and America's desire and need to kind of retake center stage as being the home of democracy and free speech. Now, obviously, people couldn't attend, so what the inauguration committee had done was to put some 200,000 flags representing the 56 American states and territories down in the avenues there so that looking out towards George Washington and the obelisk, you could just see a sea of American flags, which of course were lit as the evening came on. Fantastic music and singing from Lady Gaga and Garth Brooks, making it all-inclusive. And the person that really stole the show, of course, was Amanda Gorman. The new poet laureate, who's only 22 years old. The reason I wanted to flag her was because she really illustrated the hopes and dreams of America, but also from a public relations point of view, she has really shown the power of speech. We get very tied up in social media and in images and videos and so on. And while she was wearing this amazing yellow jacket, and she's obviously a young and vibrant woman. It was the power of her words and the metaphors that she used and the delivery that I think have resonated around the world, because whilst America was impacted by the last 4 years of political division, the whole world has been struggling under the COVID-19. So her idea of finding hope and finding light through this darkness is something that resonated globally. In the Speak PR program, I talk about messages being new, being fresh, and being simple to understand. But most of all, to go viral, they need to play into a received wisdom that's already living within the audience. And that's really what Amanda Gorman has managed to do. She's managed to tap into the zeitgeist, not just in America, but as she says, in the world. So the reason for sharing this poem is not only is it uplifting and inspirational, but it also, from a public relations point of view, gives us some ideas about the importance of messaging. And about inspiration as leaders at this time, and also that inspiration can come from anywhere—not necessarily from the traditional places nor people. Who would have thought in that star-studded cast, which of course included people like President Obama and Clinton, both of those—that the inspiration would come from a 22-year-old woman from California, who, as she says, descended from the slaves and whose been raised by a single mother and now dreams of becoming president one day. What an amazing story. And I think it also goes to show that for all of us leading organizations, that the opportunity, the time is now to start thinking about the next generation of leadership and letting them have a voice. So let's just listen to Amanda Gorman. I think you'll find without video, the words resonate even more than they do when you're watching her. Mr. President, Dr.

Biden, Madam Vice President, Mr. Emhoff, Americans, and the world. When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We've braved the belly of the beast. We've learned that quiet Isn't always peace, and the norms and notions of what just is isn't always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished. We, the successors of a country and a time Where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one. And yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn't mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect. We are striving to forge our union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man. And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. We seek harm to none and harmony For all, let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. That even as we grieved, we grew. That even as we hurt, we hoped. That even as we tired, we tried. That we'll forever be tied together victorious, not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow hate. Division. Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. If we're to live up to our own time, then victory won't lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we've made. That is the promised glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare it. Because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It's the past we step into and how We repair it. We've seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. In this truth, in this faith we trust. For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us. This is. The era of just redemption. We feared it at its inception. We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves. So while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Now we assert. How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us? We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free. We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation, because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation. Our blunders become their burdens. But one thing is certain. If we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children's birthright. So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left. With every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one. We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the West. We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first reaped We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states. We will rise from the sun-baked South. We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation, in every corner called our country. Our people, diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful. When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it.

Thank you.

For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.

So needless to say, massive applause from around the world for Amanda Gorman, both as a person and with her messaging. Now, if you then look at it from a public relations point of view, again, she was on stage there Presenting obviously to a global audience. Within 24 hours, the Denver Seven YouTube video has 505,427 views. It only has 300 subscribers to its channel. That's just Denver Seven in Colorado. She herself has now got 1.2 million Twitter followers. I think that's also increased overnight fairly significantly. And the tweet that she took with the Clintons, 30,000 likes, 1,700 retweets, and 476,000 quote tweets. So we can see how the viral effect of a message in this social media world can carry globally and pretty much instantaneously So within 24 hours, this message of hope and of goodwill, but also of youth and charisma, has gone around the world. So as you look at your own business and the messaging that you would like to portray to your team and to your customers and to your staff, just think about some of the lessons maybe that we've learned from Amanda Gorman's presence on stage and what we can do in our own words to lift and inspire people to step into the light. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Speak PR. My name is Jim James. I hope you found this of use, and if you'd like more information, do come to our website, which is at eastwestpr.com, for the newsletter which goes out weekly, or if you're interested in the mastermind at speakpr.co, where we talk about the The 5 stages of Storify: personalize, engage, amplify, and to know. And I think we've all been very blessed this week to have had goodwill and hope amplified through the amazing poetry of Amanda Gorman. God bless.

God bless.