Why Angels Fly
In law school, I remember watching the debate between Walter Mondale and Ronald Reagan during the 1984 presidential campaign. Reagan's advanced age hampered his campaign. At that time, he was 73 years old, which would leave him 77 at the end of his term. I recall the journalist questioning him and pointing out that JFK needed to stay up for days on end during the Cuban Missile Crisis, thus suggesting that Reagan didn’t have the horsepower for another term.
I distinctly remember Reagan’s lighthearted response that won him the debate, if not the entire election: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience.” By the way, Mondale was a spry 56 at the time. In hindsight, I’m sure the quip was scripted by a speechwriter, but this master orator made it seem spontaneous.
This comment illustrates the power of Reagan’s eloquence and, more specifically, how he adroitly used humor and self-deprecation to deflect a potentially fatal issue for the campaign. Even his opponent laughed as Reagan humorously confronted this challenge to his reelection.
Don’t we also need to deal with inconvenient truths in our world? The annoying facts that impede our otherwise excellent cases. No case is ever 100% bulletproof. Take a lesson from Mr. Reagan—deflect through proactive confrontation, humor, and self-deprecation.
When I teach at the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute, I often advise my students that they need to preemptively deal with their warts, a euphemism for dealing with their problem facts. It's not really a graceful metaphor, but you get the point. I remind them that their opponents won't overlook their blemishes, and neither should they.
One of the superpowers of a courtroom advocate is authenticity, which I’ve been analyzing lately as I write and speak about persuasion. The reason that authenticity is so important is that it enhances our credibility in the courtroom. One of the key attributes of an authentic person is the ability (and confidence) to acknowledge their weaknesses and spin them to their advantage.
When executed skillfully, self-deprecation conveys to the court and to your opponent, your humanity, reliability, and sincerity. JFK also used self-deprecation to his advantage. He disarmed his interrogators during press conferences through humor and self-deprecation. The Harvard Business Review claims that when people share negative information about themselves through humor rather than in a serious manner, they are viewed as more approachable and knowledgeable.
Lincoln also employed this tactic, regularly mocking his own ungainly appearance to preempt others from doing so. By shining a light on it, he deprived his opponents of a talking point. While many hostile critics continued to refer to him as “the gorilla,” his sincerity and honest self-assessment tended to blind most to what he considered his homeliness.
So the takeaway, gentle reader, is to dump on yourself. Just kidding. Rather, it’s to make the obstacle an opportunity. Identify potential handicaps and figure out a way either to turn them to your advantage or to use humor to whitewash them. Humor can be particularly helpful if your opponent is deathly serious about a matter of marginal importance.
While few of us are Lincoln’s, Kennedy’s, or Reagan's, we can adopt their strategies. Tactically, make light of yourself or the less desirable attributes of your case. Once you deprive your opponent of the attack, explain why this wart is really a beauty mark. Be creative and confident. Remember, as G.K. Chesterton observed, “angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.”
Lighten up and let your arguments soar.