Lessons from Melania Trump's Plagiarism

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As a public speaking educator, I can not ignore the opportunity to discuss the speech Melania Trump gave at the Republic National Convention this past week. A portion of her now famous speech was admittedly plagiarized from a speech that our first lady, Michelle Obama, gave in 2008. If you have yet to hear or see the striking similarity of the two speeches, check out this short video clip. This incident of outright plagiarism can create a much needed awareness about academic integrity and hopefully teach us a few lessons about what not do when writing and delivering a speech.

In my years working with students and clients, I've realized that most of us are unaware of what plagiarism is and the potential consequences that come along with it. Plagiarizing according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is “the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person.” As plagiarism.org explains original ideas that are recorded (think book, taped speech, or computer file) are considered intellectual property and are protected by U.S. copyright laws. Therefore, plagiarism is punishable by U.S. copyright laws.  For a more in depth understanding on plagiarism, check out what Harvard has to say on what constitutes plagiarism.

Borrowing or “stealing” someone’s ideas has become increasingly tempting and all too easy thanks to advancing technology. I’ve lost count the amount of times I have caught students who have plagiarized large portions of their speeches or research papers. We could blame advancing technology and our reliance on the world wide web for making stealing other people’s ideas and claiming them as our own to be a piece of cake, or we could increase awareness about how to ethically and responsibly use others ideas and give credit where credit is due. Educators teach their students from a young age about the importance of academic integrity. These lessons are often times repeated in college. On the first day of every semester, I tell my students that when they choose to plagiarize their speeches or papers, they are in fact cheating themselves and there will be consequences down the road regardless of if they get caught or not. Even though it appears that most people know and understand the consequences of plagiarism- it happens on a large scale. Whether it be a notable journalist such as Fareed Zakaria, or musicians such as Robin Thicke and Pharrel who were made to pay for their alleged plagiarism of Marvin Gaye’s famous song Got to Give it up , or a doctorate student who gets caught hiring a ghost writer- we see it happening over and over again in various industries and disciplines. When caught, the consequences can be severe- from losing your job, to having to pay millions of dollars, to being expelled from your doctoral program. However, I think  the most severe consequence of plagiarism is having your reputation and credibility permanently tarnished.

Although it doesn't look as if Melania's recent plagiarism will do much harm to her reputation or credibility as it has become clear that she is perceived to be an innocent victim of a Trump Campaign speechwriter. However, don’t fool yourself into thinking you can get off the hook as easy as Mrs. Trump. Not all of us have speech writers that will take the blame, not all of us are as Newt Gingrich explains as “stunningly attractive” as Melania, and none of us are the wife of Donald Trump who seems to have the super power of getting away with saying things that other people would be crucified for. Only time will tell if this case of plagiarism will have any real consequences to the Trump campaign, but in the meanwhile there are some lessons to be learned from this ordeal:

1.   Cite your sources- If you are going to use someone else’s thoughts or ideas- give them credit! If Melania had said something like “in the words of Michelle Obama” before she plagiarized the exact 23 words from our first lady’s 2008 speech—there wouldn’t have been any backlash. As a speaker or writer, it is important to remember to cite your source whenever you are giving facts or statistics and whenever you are using someone else’s words. If you want to share something someone else said and it is longer than 2-3 sentences, opt for paraphrasing rather than directly quoting- but don’t forget to give credit to the person’s ideas that you are sharing.  To learn more about how to cite sources check out this website or read some suggestions from Harvard on how to avoid plagiarism. 

2.  Understand that regardless of the length (whether it is 2 sentences or 10), when you copy someone else’s words- it will be considered plagiarism- Even though Melania’s speech took only 6 % of words from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech- it created national debate and discussion. It is so tempting to lift a few sentences from something you are reading—but resist the urge to do so unless you are prepared to give credit to the source or be prepared to face some potential consequences!

 3.     Plagiarism will only work to decrease your credibility-  Having credibility is a very important part of being a respected and successful professional. Aristotle talked at length about the importance of credibility which he referred to as Ethos. Check out this link for a quick overview of Ethos  or this PDF for a more in depth understanding of ethos and the importance of ethos. Perception is an important part of credibility. You can have a thousand degrees and a million years of experience in what you are talking about, but if your audience does not perceive you as being trustworthy, experienced, ethical, and having good will towards them- then your credibility really doesn’t matter. Getting caught plagiarizing will definitely impact the perception of you credibility. If you have worked hard to get to where you are- one instance of plagiarism accusation can work to crumble your career- so keep academic integrity at the forefront of your work.

 4.  Speak about what you are passionate about and speak from you heart. If you watched the video clips that were embedded earlier of Mrs. Obama and Mrs. Trump saying the same words side by side- you would probably agree that our first lady was more engaging, more passionate, and more authentic and genuine in her delivery. Authenticity and passion are a key ingredient to public speaking success. When you are using someone else’s words you are most likely not going to come across as genuine as if you are speaking from your heart. Being an engaging and passionate speaker is important to audience engagement and increased perceived credibility of a speaker. Both are highly desirable outcomes of a public speaker.

 5.  When you take ideas and plagiarize from others- you are cheating yourself. Plagiarism is a form of cheating. If you feel the urge to take words from others without giving credit-  you are putting yourself in a situation in which you will get caught and face consequences- but most importantly you are cheating yourself. Believe in yourself and your intellectual ability to produce your own original thoughts and ideas. If you don’t have the confidence in yourself to do so- ask for help- work with a writing tutor, a speech coach, or work independently on perfecting your citation skills. If you don’t feel confident in your writing or speaking abilities, don’t fret! Just like we can grow our muscles in the gym- we can grow our intellects and our academic abilities—it just takes practice!