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When this man speaks, people listen. (Source)
If you read the last lesson closely, you noticed that we dropped a totally hilarious one-liner about politicians and their seemingly innate ability to answer questions with the ones they wished they were asked, instead of the ones actually posed by their audience.
We're not going to take it back. It's absolutely true.
If anyone out there in the public eye needs to be incredible while public speaking, it's politicians. These women and men are the representatives of the people, and have a very specific job to accomplish in being elected and conveying ideas clearly, compellingly, and convincingly. Those who only provide lip service to their constituents aren't likely to be re-elected—no matter how gripping their speaking skillz may be.
And just like with any other realm of public speaker, while some politicians simply don't have the needed goods to grab and hold an audience, some most definitely do. Our 44th POTUS, Barack Obama, was highly skilled in public speaking. All political proclivities aside, there's no denying that the man had a special way of grabbing and holding the attention of the listening audience.
This certainly contributed to his two terms in office.
To be the best public speakers we can be, we can always look to the masters of the discipline for wisdom and guidance. That's why we've got Scott Berkun along for the ride—and also why we're going to check out the speech that many folks contend was responsible for Obama's eventual 2008 presidential victory.
Yep: it's heavy hitter time.
ROCKIN' THE CONVENTION
To get us all on board the same ship, we've got to watch Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (and even if you've seen it before, it's important to watch again now). Think about all of the various facets of delivering a speech that we've covered in this unit, and feel free to jot down some notes when you see these things come up.
Just a reminder: you don't have to like Obama as a former president, or agree with any of his policies or stances on, well, anything. All you've got to do is watch this person giving a speech, and think about why the audience is so responsive. Sure, some of their adoration is based on politics, but we're here to analyze the rhetorical components that made this speech stand out from so many others like it.
"C-SPAN: Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention" is less than twenty minutes long, so go right ahead and watch it now. When you return for the next reading, we'll get into depth about why and how this speech just works.
CAPTURING THE AUDIENCE
Remember way back in Unit 2 when you were first introduced to a text called Thank You For Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs? We're going to read a chapter from this book now, so take a few minutes and locate it. We'll be right here when you get back.
All set? Excellent. Chapter 27: "Capture Your Audience" is all about Obama's speech, how it was structured, and why in the world it rocked as hard as it did. In ten short pages, Heinrichs goes in deep, showing us exactly what tools Obama used to create one of the most talked-about speeches in recent political history.
He also references snippets of Obama's other notable speeches, so make sure you're noting the differences and similarities between all of the mentions. Heinrichs also likes dropping applicable Greek terms on the reader, so be prepared for that.
While you're reading, think about the following:
How could you put Cicero's outline to work for you?
What was significant about both the intro and conclusion of Obama's speech? Does he employ tactics that feel familiar to you? Would you be down with trying these out on your own?
After watching the speech and reading Heinrichs' analysis of it, what are the major takeaways for you?
We imagine you're going to come out of this lesson with some new ideas about what constitutes a powerful, well-aimed speech. In our final two lessons, we'll examine speeches from two other noteworthy speakers, so get your note-taking devices ready to put into action.
Ch 27.pdfGoogle Sites
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