Every Tuesday YBF publishes a public speaking or debating tip to help young conservative activists become even better at promoting the causes we share. 

One of the most effective tactics adopted by great orators is to repeat their best lines. I don’t mean that they should cut and paste excerpts of speeches or, worse, do as Joe Biden did and plagiarise others’ speeches. But if a public figure has a line that resonates with voters, he or she shouldn’t be afraid of using it – rather like a catchphrase. Ronald Reagan frequently said: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet”, Bill Clinton reminded voters “It’s the economy, stupid” and Barack Obama tells his supporters: “Yes we can”. In Britain, David Cameron frequently returns to “Share the proceeds of growth” while Tony Blair extolled “Education, education, education” and promised to be “Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.

The ability to return to themes that inspire supporters was shown a couple of years ago by Senator Ted Kennedy, the liberal lion of the US Senate who was then dying of brain cancer. Hearkening back to his unsuccessful 1980 campaign for the Democratic nomination (and his powerful podium speech at the 1980 Democratic Convention), Kennedy repeated the refrain from that powerful 1980 speech. Many in the room wouldn’t have picked up on the technique – they were simply inspired to hear from one of their party’s big beasts, particularly in his current condition. But seasoned observers knew what Kennedy was doing. He was laying claim, on behalf of the Kennedy clan, to the then likely Obama victory that November. When Obama won Kennedy acolytes predictably said that he owed his victory in part to the vision of the soon-to-be departed Senator from Massachusetts.