When PR guru John Onoda shared communications tips with our team at iQ 360 last fall, he had one specific recommendation to help us find inspiration: read poetry. “To be able to convey such deep thoughts and emotions while also facing length and formatting constraints is a true skill. We should all aspire to that level of simplicity and power,” he explained.
Just a few months after John’s talk, we had a chance to heed his advice during the star-studded inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. While Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez gave rousing performances, Amanda Gorman, the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate, stole the show. At 22, not only was she the youngest person to deliver a poem at a U.S. presidential inauguration, but she wowed the world through galvanizing verse, the American experience and cultural events of the past and present:
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always justice
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
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
As communicators, we are continually striving to find the right words to capture a sentiment and captivate our audience, sometimes in ambiguous situations and under time constraints. Amanda Gorman put beautiful and powerful words on paper with only a month’s notice, amidst uncertainty and rapidly developing events.
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it
The subtle rhymes, powerful metaphors, and captivating nods to news and history reminded us just how much words matter. And it reminded us of John’s sage advice: “We should all aspire to that level of simplicity and power.”
You can listen to the full inaugural speech, ‘The Hill We Climb’ below.