I like to follow American politics, so I would have watched Obama’s speech live anyways. I personally, have never agreed with basic Republican views, but it was not till I heard this speech till I truly sided with the Democrats. This speech demonstrates his ability to be an articulate public speaker, which is the main reason I respect him. While I listened to his speech, I also picked up a few interesting things he does that are worth sharing.
Firstly, He makes skilful use of gestures. Every thing he does with expresses the point he is trying to make. When he was telling the audience about something he felt strongly about, or when he wanted to emphasize something, would hands would form fists. He made use of subtle visuals like, lifting a hand when discussing paychecks that are “raising” or pointing different directions when talking about places (e.g. Washington, Wall Street). When not actively using his hands, he made casual hand gestures that always flowed with the speech. In the end, Obama’s use of hand gestures made the speech look natural and gave it a visual aspect that made.
Another thing I noticed was his speech used language that suited the audience. He always used terms that where more casual (e.g. “gas”). If Obama’s speech used language that was more formal, he probably would not have related to the audience as well. Also, when an prominent person like the president speaks about his family, it helps people who also have families relate to him. Furthermore, it makes us see him as a father and a husband, instead just of a politician. The next thing I liked about the speech is the use of sayings and metaphors, for example, Clinton’s line “you do the math”. Thes help convey his meaning in an interesting way. Obama’s use of casual language and idioms made his speech much more compelling and understandable.
Lastly, he emphasized and dramatized the stories that were a part of this speech dramatic. When he was talking about the veteran who lost a leg and similar hopeful story, he lowered his voice and made these parts emotional. The audience’s showed how effective they were. These emotional stories got the audience riled up and even teary in some places, contributing to the interest of speech even more.
All these seemingly small components made the speech more enjoyable to listen for me. To recap, that would be Obama’s hand gestures the made the speech flow well and visually captivating, the casual language and idioms suited the audience, and the emotional stories contributed to the interest. And yes, if you were wondering, I would have voted Democratic if I was able to.
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