Critiquing Speeches

Critiquing famous speeches

Introductions

The purpose behind this paper is to critique some famous speeches, analyze what was right about the speech what went wrong and how could have the speech been more profound. The aim of performing this activity is to be able to improve our own style by critiquing others.

Discussion

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

The positives about the speech include the following:

Steve Jobs is being honest in his presentation and gives a personal touch to his speech by mentioning examples from his life, these elements are interest building and keep the audience's focus on you .Some of his life experiences that he mentions are extremely motivating for the viewer and captivating which makes the listeners pay extra attention. His speech is good the words he's using are also good.

Some critique on the Speech

Steve Jobs if frequently touching his lips which is distracting for the viewer, the hand gestures should be kept to the minimum as they don't give a positive image about the speaker. Steve is also reading a lot from his notes, notes should be briefly gazed at during speeches in the case of personal stories from his life here is no need to consult documents, speeches should be made engaging by interacting and looking at the viewers. He is also not pausing after making statements that are of interest to the viewer's life for instance they found his exclamation on dropping out from school funny, he didn't pause for the people he just kept going. There is hardly any eye contact with the viewers. Because of his excessive reading people are losing interests in his speech. He seems to be rushing.

President Obama's Yes we can speech

The major positives of his speech include the following:

He has a very interactive way of speaking, he is maintaining eye contact with his audience and smiling at them and cheering with them. His gestures and hand movements are also subtle. The best part of his speech is that he is not using any notes or pages he is speaking freely without too many pauses that are unnecessary. This makes the speech and the speaker sound a lot more interesting, than to those who read from papers while giving their speech. Obama presents his strong points with conviction which makes the viewer believe in him and his words. As a speaker Obama has presented himself, his thoughts accurately and this one an exceptional speech

Some ...