2012 DNC Speech Review - Anna

Barack Obama is considered one of the world’s best speakers, alongside Les Brown and Bill Clinton. But, what makes him such a great speaker? Confidence? Maybe. What makes him such a great speaker is what he does when he speaks, the message behind his words, and how he is an inspiration to people around the globe.


When he delivers a speech, we can always hear, and see the basic components of public speaking: clear enunciation, eye contact with the audience, memorized speech, pausing between phrases and words for a natural effect, uses different tones in his voice to avoid sounding monotone, uses hand gestures when needed, and so forth. These are the basic steps to becoming a good public speaker. But what makes him a better speaker than others? Is it how he delivers the speech? Or he can fit in a slight sense of humor? Is it the language he uses? Actually, it’s all three. When we compare the transcript [of the speech] to what he delivers, it is clear that the transcript and the delivery are not the same thing. Also, he uses words that are powerful and have meaning. When we think about where he is at, we normally don’t think of it as a place for comedy, but he has the ability to fit in a slight sense of humor while, acting natural. The comedy used is also vague enough so that the majority of the population understands it. He is able to relate to the audience by using informal words, therefore suggesting that all Americans are equal.

At this Convention, Obama’s speech, the content of it was about why he ran for president 8 years ago, why he is running for another 4 years, what he will do as president in the next four years, and his inspiration is. But, when people vote, they should not just pay attention to what he is speaking about, but also what message the speech serves. Unlike most politicians, he did ask the country to vote for him, but only after he gave them reasons to. He did not ask America to choose between two different candidates; instead, he asked the country to vote “between two very different paths for America”. The message that Obama is trying to serve is that the people of America are the hope of the future. He knows that they are the future, because in the past, in times of need, the country worked hard and came together to fix it.

In this speech, Obama speaks about his inspirations, but he also inspires many other people. He mentions people who were given second chances, but only because they never gave up: the homeless young woman who was given national recognition on her work in scientific research, the autoworker who won the lottery after his plant almost closed down, the family business in Warroad, Minnesota that didn’t lay off a single one of their four thousand employees during this recession, or the young sailor recovering from a grenade attack while serving in Iraq. These are the people that he admires, not the rich, not the famous, and not the powerful, but the ordinary everyday people that don’t care about money, but about happiness and helping others. To him, these are the people of the future, “a future filled with hope”. We can also be inspired by people like them, and also by the President himself. He inspires on political leaders to do what they haven’t done in decades: improve their own economies, help the ones in nee, supporting middle-class families, fund medical services and school programs, and bringing a nation together. He inspires ordinary citizens to do what we have been avoiding: helping others wherever and whenever and voicing our own ideas for a better future and economy, and also a cleaner planet. He inspires everyone, big and small, because he wants to fight for the type of country that he thinks is right, and because he thinks that America can be a better country.