theatlantic | Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by
emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his
dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience.
“Instead of honoring this sacred obligation” to liberty, King thundered,
“America has given the Negro people a bad check.” He promised that a
land “sweltering with the heat of oppression” could be “transformed into
an oasis of freedom and justice,” and envisioned a future in which “on
the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of
brotherhood.”
Delivering this electrifying message required emotional
intelligence—the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions.
Dr. King demonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and
in sparking emotions that moved his audience to action. As his
speechwriter Clarence Jones reflected,
King delivered “a perfectly balanced outcry of reason and emotion, of
anger and hope. His tone of pained indignation matched that note for
note.”
