Jim Jones’ followers enthralled by his skills as a speaker
The key to understanding the tragedy that was Jonestown lies in the oratory skills of the Peoples Temple founder, Jim Jones. Rev. Jim Jones “He was very charismatic,” Leslie Wagner-Wilson, a Jonestown survivor, says of the Rev. Jim Jones. Click to view previous image 1 of 2 Click to view next image With the cadence and fervor of a Baptist preacher, the charm and folksiness of a country storyteller and the zeal and fury of a maniacal dictator, Jones exhorted his followers to a fever pitch, audiotapes recovered from Jonestown reveal. As he spoke, they applauded, shouted, cheered. One follower who survived the “revolutionary suicide” at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, said that Jones was the most dynamic speaker he had ever heard. Like all powerful speakers, Jones’ greatest asset was his ability to determine what listeners wanted to hear and give it to them in simple language that appealed to them on an almost instinctual level.
