Kamala Harris Campaign: Lessons on Leadership Communication

Kamala Harris has recently become popular in the news because she is the first Black woman and first Asian American woman to have joined a major party’s presidential ticket in the US. Harris’ first speech in this election was on 20 August 2020 when she formally received her vice-presidential nomination. The speech has made people feel that she is “charismatic, well-spoken, and level headed”.

As a PR firm, we analyse below her campaign and communication strategy, from the speech, her book, the decision to focus on her biracial and immigrant roots to her way of making a case and her personality.

1. The decision to focus on her biracial roots

Kamala Harris’ speech and her campaign book The Truths We Hold have openly focussed on her biracial roots to show how it influenced her to be in service of all people.

Harris has never been a fan of talking about herself or focussing on her identity, according to The Washington Post. People had always thought of her as just Black because she went to study at Howard University, a prominently Black institute. Her friends were surprised to know that she has an Indian background and Shekar Narasimhan who works to build the political power of Asian Americans called her shift to embrace her Indian background “sudden”. “It is not about me. It’s about the people I represent,” she believes. Ishaan Tharoor, a columnist with the Washington Post agrees when he shares an example of Indian-origin politicians in the West who have opposing views on refugees and asylum seekers.

Even so, she decided to write the book so as to give the context of her politics. Political campaigns require candidates to explain their background so voters can understand why they do what they do, she said.

Her public focus on her Indian immigrant culture comes at the back of the rising “public fascination and acceptance of the strong desi female” in the US, writes journalist Aarti Shahani. Asian American happens to be the fastest-growing demographic of voters in the US at 139% in the last two decades as compared to 7% of white voters. Her background as the daughter of an immigrant child also puts Trump’s anti-immigration policies in stark contrast.

2. Storytelling

Great speeches focus on stories to emotionally connect with an audience. This involves talking about the things that your audience would connect with and can see themselves reflected in. And Harris did it perfectly from talking about regional food like Okra in her book and cooking masala dosa with Mindy Kaling on YouTube to using the Tamil language word “chithis” for aunties in her speech and sharing stories of her mother as a single mother. All these tidbits make her feel relatable to the different communities.

3. Making her case as a prosecutor

Harris has formerly worked as an attorney general and district attorney for more than 10 years. The years of practice as a lawyer has allowed her to meticulously make a case. In her latest book, she writes how she advises young lawyers to end their arguments:

“Their job was to get up there and show the jury that two plus two plus two plus two leads, categorically, to eight. I’d tell them to break down every element. Explain the logic of their argument. Show the jury how they reached their conclusion.”

And in her campaign book and the speech, she is making a case for herself in the same way — on why she is a good vice presidential candidate that you should vote for. She also predicts the criticisms she would receive and addresses them. For example, in 2009 she branded herself as a law enforcement officer via her book Smart on Crime to get the position of Attorney General of California. Now in the US, there are debates and anguish against the law enforcement, especially amongst African Americans after police brutality killed George Floyd. Harris addresses these potential criticisms on her by painting herself as wanting to do the law reforms, but “from the inside”.

4. A combination of soft and hard skills

A 21-year old student says to BBC on seeing Harris’ speech that she “exuded a confidence that made you feel as though she was speaking as the current vice-president.”

While her confidence and assertiveness is a part of her personality that comes from her decades of experience as a lawyer, she also has the soft skills needed in the election campaigns. Research coming out from the psychology department of St John’s University had created a personality profile of Harris, which shows that Harris is “self-confident” and “assertive” yet “sociable” and “cordial”. Journalist Edward-Isaac Dovere writing in The Atlantic says that Harris laughs every time she deflects a question.

 

---

Curzon PR is a London-based PR firm working with clients globally. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our Business Development Team bd@curzonpr.com