Obama Speech

Obviously, when watching a speech, the first thing you really notice is the speakers appearance. President Obama, when he walked onto the stage, was dressed up, looking very professional. He seemed to be not only confident, but at ease too. Immediately the listener/watcher knows that he is well prepared and is knowledgeable about what he's going to talk about. While giving the speech he stood in a very relaxed manner, not slouching, but not super stiff. His hands were either making gestures to accompany his words (all of which were very natural), or they were resting on the podium.

Throughout the speech, he remained very calm, and collected. He sounded almost as if he was having a conversation. He was articulate, but not overwhelmingly so. In fact, he stuttered on occasion, which on a professional level doesn't look very good. However, I thought that those stutters made him more believable and intimate, especially since he was talking to students. Also, he used "easy words" so that everyone he was speaking to (students, in particular) could understand what he was saying.

There was no obvious climax like in Dr. King's I Have A Dream speech, but you could sense that there were several within the speech. Like Dr. King, he uses lots of logical appeals (but not nearly as many emotional ones). For example, when he was talking about how we can make a difference in the world right now, he told three stories about students who are doing exactly that. I especially found the story about the girl who came up with a new desire for cancer inspiring, so I guess that was also kind of an emotional appeal too.

He talks about his daughters and how he wants them to do their best, which was an ethos appeal, because it tells us that he knows what he's talking about. Other ethos appeals he uses are when he tells about his own school experience, and also when he says that he, and many other people in the government are working hard for the students' sake.

Personally, I didn't think it was the best motivational speech in the world, but then again, can anything seem super motivational after hearing the I Have A Dream Speech? Anyway, I thought his argument (do the best you can in school) came across nicely. I did like the simplicity of his speech, and the almost easy-going feel it had. All in all, I thought it was a nice speech that made good use of the appeals, but it wasn't the most motivational speech I have heard.