The communication styles of Donald Trump and Barack Obama, and their influence on the electorate

Details

Supervisors

Katherine Opello

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en communication multilingue, à finalité spécialisée: langues des affaires

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to study the communication style of Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump during their presidential campaign to determine whether or not it had an influence on the electorate, and if yes, to which extent. To achieve this goal, three texts have been selected for both candidates: their announcement speech, their Convention speech, and the speech held at their last rally. By choosing the same speeches for both men, I ensured that the conditions were similar enough to realize an objective comparison. After a methodological and a theoretical section, where I will establish the background of this thesis, I will then analyze the speeches. All speeches will be looked at from a pragmatic, functional, and linguistic point of view, to establish the extent to which language was influential. Furthermore, the personality and political affiliation of each candidate will also be detailed, as they represent a crucial portion of a politician’s persona. Finally, a comparative analysis will be made between Trump and Obama’s results and characteristics in order to draw conclusions about what communication factors actually influenced the electorate. Results will ultimately show that communication indeed exerts a tremendous influence on the electorate, but not without adaptations according to their audience’s expectations.