Obama Handles Hecklers

Yesterday evening, Barack Obama was heckled during a speech in Syracuse, New York.

(The whole video is 1 minute 17 seconds.)

I mentioned Obama very recently, but his technique is worth examining again. Whether or not you’re a fan, observe his oratory skill, probably the main reason he’s at the top of his game.

He handles this so well, with what I see as stand-up comedy skills. Also, like a stand-up comic (well, one at a big comedy club anyway, and not in a room behind a pub in South London), he presumably had the luxury of some security heavies to escort his hecklers from the building (which will have been why the crowd, after booing the hecklers, started cheering). But what did he do?

• He immediately acknowledged the heckler, to try and calm her down. He didn’t ignore her or try to belittle her, despite the rest of the crowd clearly being on his side.
• He defended her (“No, no, no, that’s fine…”) to calm the audience down and move attention away from her as quickly as possible.
• He showed humility by laughing, showing it didn’t bother him. Despite probably being very annoyed, he didn’t appear to be, despite the fact that he’d lost the crowd’s attention and had to stop speaking.
• He made a humorous point (“…that young lady was very polite.”). Self-deprecation gains likability. 
• He aligned her with his message – “…an issue of importance, and that’s part of what America is all about.” A fairly generic comment, but it meant he could continue seamlessly with what he was saying.