Barrack Obama's Speech Critique Research Assignemnt (Essay Sample)

Barrack Obama’s Speech Critique
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Barrack Obama’s Speech Critique
Barrack Obama, the 44th President of America, has been lauded by many as a great orator with excellent speech delivery techniques that have always left his audience enthralled and yearning to hear more. In his speech, Reducing Carbon Pollution in Our Power Plants, which he presented at the Children National Medical Centre in Washington DC; Obama enlightens his online audience on the effects of carbon pollution from power plants on children’s health. For instance, he mentions that the children at the medical center have asthma and other respiratory diseases caused by carbon pollution (Obama, 2014). Moreover, he informs his audience on how carbon pollution has caused an adverse climatic change, consequently leading to loss of livelihoods and inflation of food prices. He also tells the audience of measures that his government has put in place to curb the menace. For example, he talks about the climate action plan that seeks to advocate for clean energy such as the wind and solar and discourage dirty energy that leads to pollution (Obama, 2014). Notably, in the speech, Obama utilizes five public-speaking techniques that appeal to his audience- captivating introduction, transcendence, good command of language, use of appropriate body language, and a summative conclusion.
Firstly, to capture the attention of his online listeners, Barrack Obama begins his speech by greeting them. He starts with a ‘hi everybody’ salutation. The greeting serves as a welcome note to his listeners since the video starts with a ten seconds moment of silence. The greetings also help to attract the attention of his audience and give him a good impression to his audience (Ricci, 2012). Remarkably, Obama is aware that he is giving an online speech and, therefore, after the salutation, he informs his audience of the speech delivery venue. Obama goes ahead to link the reason for his choice of the Children National Medical Centre in Washington DC as his venue and this aids his listeners to have a background and an overview of his message.
Notably, Obama uses transcendence to capture and maintain his audience’s attention. Transcendence is a public-speaking skill in which the speaker uses a concrete and tangible language to appeal to his audience throughout his speech, making it possible for the listener to create images of what Obama is saying hence retaining the message. For instance, after listening to the speech, I can correctly narrate to a third party the message that the former president was passing to his audience. Additionally, in several instances, the president quoted several statistical figures to enhance the authenticity of his message. Also, the statistics show that Obama was well versed with his speech and that he had prior knowledge of his topic. For example, to illustrate the strides that his government has made towards adopting cleaner energy, he states that every four minutes an American home or institution embraces solar power (Obama, 2014). Furthermore, he says that 40% of carbon pollution results from power plants.
Paramount to note, Obama has a good command of language and every time he is given a chance to speak, he ensures that his message is understood by everyone. For instance, it is clear that Obama has analyzed his online audience and knows that it consist of different kinds of persons with varying levels of understanding. For this reason, Obama adopts an easy-to-understand language that can be comprehended by everyone in the audience. He avoids difficult technological jargons that may render his speech incomprehensible to many local citizens. Additionally, his speech is clear and well-organized; there is a logical flow of ideas which makes the listeners have a smooth transition from one idea to another. The smooth transition enables his listeners to marry one idea with the previous one. For example, he begins by letting his audience understand the effects of carbon pollution on the health of children, livestock, and on agriculture. After that, he vividly explains the measures that he has put in place to curb pollution and some of the challenges they have encountered from critics and naysayers. Finally, at the end of the speech, he urges the American people to champion for a clean environment for themselves and the future generation (Obama, 2014). Also, to ensure that his points are driven home, Obama supports his opinions adequately. Before moving over to the next issue, he ensures that he has exhaustively discussed the point. For instance, he thoroughly explains how the climatic action plan has helped reduce carbon pollution.
As a top-notch speaker, Obama acknowledges the need to use appropriate body language to complement his vocal rendition. For instance, he moves his hands frequently to the chest region when trying to emphasize a point. According to psychologists, p...