The second and third presidential
debates are in the books
and everyone is talking about who won
but today we're not talking about policies
or strength of argument.
I want to analyze who won strictly
from a charisma angle so let's get into it.
The first thing to note is that previous debates,
especially the primaries,
were defined by zingers and there were a handful
mostly from Trump.
...and she said things WikiLeaks that just came out
and she lied.
Now she's blaming the lie
on the late great Abraham Lincoln.
That's one that I have--
(audience laughing)
It's just awfully good that someone
with the temperament of Donald Trump
is not in charge of the law in our country.
Because you'd be in jail.
(audience cheering)
There was a different vibe in this debate though
since the audience couldn't laugh out loud
and there were longer uninterrupted
stretches to answer questions.
Instead of punchy one-liners,
these debates came down to two main principles.
The first was credibility.
Basically, appearing to be an authority on the issues
and I want to make this clear --
we don't actually know from what they're saying
what either of these candidates is an authority on
but we are triggered by certain cues.
The first cue that I want to discuss
used by both candidates use many times
was the use of specific numbers.
We have 33,000 people a year who die from guns.
...no, the border patrol agent 16,500 plus ice last week.
We have 11 million undocumented people,
they have 4 million American citizen children,
15 million people--
She wants 550% more people than Barack Obama--
Is 33,000 gun deaths a lot?
Is 550% more immigrants too many?
And are those numbers even accurate?
Now my point here is not to cast doubt
or say that either of those figures are off
but just to say that most people don't know
the answer to those questions
and we really can't make a determination of it
if those numbers are big or small
when they're taken out of context.
But when candidates quote these numbers
with a high level of specificity,
it gives the impression that they are an expert.
It gives the impression of credibility.
So for your own life,
it's important to resist the urge to equate
specific numbers to authority.
Specificity does not equal truth
and the size of a number of course
means nothing out of context.
Perhaps I'm gonna make another video on how easy it is
to use facts to back a weak argument
and how it's done all the time and marketing
but for now, I'm just going to leave it at that.
Another huge indicator the humans look for
to determine who is more credible
is the degree of comfort and answering difficult questions
and they were quite a few of those
over the course of these debates
including for instance --
In a speech you gave to a Brazilian bank
for which you were paid $225,000,
we've learned from the WikiLeaks that you said this,
"My dream is a hemispheric common market
with open trade and open borders."
Thank you.
That's the question, please quiet everybody,
Is that your dream -- open borders?
Now, the standard response from both candidates
when they were faced with a very pointed question
was almost always a brief answer followed by a redirect
like this --
Well if you went on to read the rest of the sentence,
I was talking about energy.
We trade more energy with our neighbors
than we trade with the rest of the world combined
and I do want us to have an electric grid
and energy system that crosses borders.
I think that will be a great benefit to us
but you are very clearly quoting from WikiLeaks
and what's really important about WikiLeaks is that
the Russian government has engaged in espionage--
While those redirects are often effective
at shifting the focus from something that
might be negative to something that is
perhaps a negative about the opposing candidate,
they can be countered when people call them out
and that's because when we sense the people
are ducking questions,
we feel like they have something to hide
or they don't know what they're talking about
and to Trump's credit, in this case,
he called Hillary out for redirecting.
...tap in any of our elections before.
That was a great pivot off the fact
that she wants open borders.
How did we get onto Putin?
But while both candidates used redirects
to difficult questions,
it was Trump who repeatedly got taken to task
by the moderators in the second debate
and it made him look like he was in over his head
avoiding questions to which he really
didn't have good answers.
...is killing ISIS and Iran is killing ISIS
and those three have now lined up
because of our weak foreign policy.
Mr. Trump, let me repeat the question.
If you were president, what would you do about Syria
and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo?
...and that was the line.
What do you think will happen if Aleppo falls?
I think Aleppo is a disaster humanitarian-wise.
What do you think will happen if it falls?
I think that it basically has fallen, okay?
It basically has fallen -- let me tell you something--
...people stay there, I've been reading--
Tell me what your strategy is.
In addition, there was oftentimes a sense that
candidates were using the questions they were given
to launch into totally unrelated points
and in previous video,
I noted that was especially true of Hillary
but in the final two debates,
she did an excellent job of segwaying
from the question as it was asked
to a point that she may be wanted to make
and she did this by repeating the question-asker's
own words throughout her answer.
...believe you can be a devoted president
to all the people in the United States.
So I have a deep devotion
to use you're absolutely correct words.
...TV parental guidelines, knowing that educators has
signed viewing the Presidential Debates for student's
homework, do you feel you're modeling appropriate
and positive behavior for today's youth?
Well thank you, are you a teacher?
Yes, I think that that's a very good question
because I've heard from lots of teachers and parents
about some of their concerns--
That last clip by the way is extremely reminiscent
of her husband's performance in a 1992 townhall debate
which she has no doubt studied -- check it out.
Tell me how's it affected you again.
You know people who've lost their jobs
and lost their homes?
I've been a governor of a small state for 12 years--
Moving on though, the third and fourth major
contributors to credibility are conviction and congruency.
And it might seem crazy but
we often judge the value of someone's position
by how certain they are of that position.
Now previously this is an area
where Trump was very strong but in these debates,
he was decidedly mixed.
Here's an example of a lower conviction
answer from him.
Notice how much less animated he is than usual.
My opinion is going to uphold the Second Amendment
and all amendments but the Second Amendment
which is under absolute siege.
I believe if my opponent should win this race,
which I truly don't think will happen,
we will have a Second Amendment which
will be a very, very small replica of what it is right now.
I think Trump purposely went with a more
calm demeanor here in order to come across
as more controlled and presidential
but unfortunately it detracted a bit from his conviction.
Still, he did have moments where the conviction
was on full display and these highs generally topped
what we saw from Hillary
which was more even throughout.
...but their inline and they're waiting to
become citizens -- very unfair that somebody runs
across the border, becomes a citizen under
her plan you have open borders.
You would have a disaster on trade
and you will have a disaster with your open borders.
But what she doesn't say
is that President Obama has deported millions
and millions of people just the way it is.
Finally, the candidates fight to see who could create
a stronger emotional connection with the audience
and with voters at large.
Again, for this point,
I'm not arguing which candidate truly cares more.
I'm just pointing out that there are cues that make us
feel like someone is more emotionally connected.
The first thing to consider here are the stories
and images that they invoke.
Numbers are very important for credibility
but its stories and strong imagery
that connect us to others.
Hillary put a huge emphasis on painting pictures
of real-life individuals particularly in the third debate.
...often the most heartbreaking painful decisions
for families to make.
I have met with women who, toward the end
of their pregnancy, get the worst news one could get --
that their health is in jeopardy if they continue
to carry to term as he was talking
I was thinking about a young
girl I met here in Las Vegas, Carla, who
was very worried that her parents might be deported
because she was born in this country
but they were not.
They work hard, they do everything they can
to give her a good life
and you're right, I don't want to rip families apart,
I don't want to be sending parents
away from children, I don't want to see
the deportation force that Donald has talked about
in action in our country.
I am not going to slam the door on women
and children -- that picture of that little four-year-old boy
in Aleppo with the blood coming down his face
while he sat in an ambulance is haunting.
Donald instead spoke more generally most of the time.
His stories when he told them cited big names
to give credibility but there wasn't much in the way
of emotional connection.
Hillary also did a better job
of personally addressing the individuals
who asked questions-in-the-town-hall format.
...a job by China and steal or anything else.
You know because it sounds
like you're in the business or you're
aware of people in the business.
You know that we are now, for the first time ever,
energy-independent.
We are not dependent upon the Middle East--
This was especially obvious in the
closing remarks of the third debate.
When addressing minorities, Trump use the word "they"
and the awkward phrases "the Afrian-Americans"
and "the Latinos."
He was speaking to groups that he wanted to
vote for him in a way that highlighted
his emotional distance from them
and I don't think he picked up any votes there.
...are inner cities are a disaster.
You get shot walking to the store,
they have no education, they have no jobs.
I will do more for African-Americans and Latinos
then she can ever do in ten lifetimes.
All she's done is talk to the African-Americans
and to the Latinos.
Hillary on the other hand smartly spoke
in second person -- meaning she used the
word "you."
...our country what it should be to grow
the economy to make it fairer,
to make it work for everyone.
We need your talents, your skills, your commitment,
your energy, your ambition--
And while from much of the debate,
Hillary had stared downward
and hurt her ability to connect emotionally.
In her closing remarks,
she did look at the camera dead on
giving viewers an increased sense
that she was talking to "you."
So who won overall?
Again, I'm just commenting on who won
from a charisma perspective
which isn't what you should base your vote on
even though some people may.
So that said, I would say that Hillary beat Donald
in the final two debates
in very similar fashion to one another.
Yes, Trump won on zingers but those were
far less impactful in these quieter debate styles.
Hillary hit on more triggers of credibility than Trump did
and in terms of emotional connection,
neither candidate had a real slam dunk
but again I would say that Hillary did beat Donald.
I'm hoping that this is the last video you see from me
on the election -- it's been fun
but i'm looking forward to getting back
to some other charismatic personalities.
Speaking of which, if you haven't yet,
make sure to click the button on the screen right now
to see lots more charisma breakdowns of all sorts of
different kinds of people.
We also have videos that answer your questions and
help you to become the most charismatic
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If you have any suggestions on topics
or breakdowns that we should do,
whatever it is, go ahead and write them in the comments.
This video is for those of you who in
the comments kept asking about the second debate.
I did not plan on doing this or any more for this election
but I do really care about what you want so if
there's anything specific that you'd like to see,
just make sure to go ahead
and write it in the comments.
Until next time, I hope that you've enjoyed this video
and I'll see in the next one.