Persuading the Public

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Last Updated: Oct 02, 2025, 03:02 PM

Persuading the Public

What influences the way we see leaders? How are these techniques used to help the public see someone positively or negatively? Presidential candidates run their campaigns promoting issues and their character. When their personal qualities are highlighted, their biography is presented in a positive way. This activity will introduce you to several of these techniques and their uses in the past and present.

First, click on the image for information about 5 Media Techniques used when presenting a person: Sound, Eye Contact, Subject Composition, Lighting, and Perspective. Later, you will identify how these techniques are used in modern advertisements for presidential candidates.

Identifying Creative Techniques in Modern Campaign Advertisements

Which of the 5 Media Techniques from the previous section do you notice in these presidential advertisements? Are any of these techniques used to promote positive leadership qualities such as perseverance or humility? Watch the introductory advertisement for highlighted examples.

Need Help? Go to the previous activity, “What Makes a Good Leader,” for definitions of the Five Pillars of Leadership.

Congratulations! Now that you have completed this module, can you identify these 5 Media Techniques in other advertisements designed to inform or persuade the public to vote for a candidate or even buy a product? You can practice this skill with other presidential campaign advertisements at the Museum of the Moving Image’s website, The Living Room Candidate.