Thursday, April 17, 2008

Day of Infamy Speech by FDR

World War II has always interested me. It was fascinating listening to FDR ask Congress to declare war on the Empire of Japan.

FDR's voice was strong and steady in the deliveration of the speech. The longer the speech ran, the stronger his emotion could be heard. By the middle of the speech, as he was speaking of all the places Japan had attacked, you could sense the emotion of disgust in FDR's voice.

This was a very powerful speech. FDR addressed Japan's deception of peace towards the United States. He declared they gave us a false hope of peace while fully intending to attack Pearl Harbor. He began to speak with more intensity as he stated that America will rise to victory. At this point in the speech, the emotions of Congress were high. They erupted into lengthy applause. After the applause dies down, FDR's voice returned to a softer tone. This allowed him to build momentum as he pressed towards the end of the speech. The culmination of the speech was the asking of Congress to declare a state of war with Japan. His words were short, firm, loud and full of emotion. The words were met again with lengthy applause.

The speech was given at a time of intense emotion for the United States. FDR was able to take his emotion, reign it in with clarity, and inspire a country.

It would have been great to have seen FDR deliver the speech.

Will Sexton

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9uCGxk-v-Mc

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Steve Jobs Speech


http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=lSiQA6KKyJo&feature=related

In this speech, you can notice that Steve Jobs was really recognized by the public at that event. It was really important, because he was more close to that audience. So, he talked things that for another public it could not work as well it worked.
In the beginning of the speech, the speaker breaks the ice when he says: “Hi, I’m Steve Jobs”. It is an ice breaker because the audience was there to watch his speech. It worked, because people laughed.
During all the speech, Steve Jobs made comparisons between IBM and other companies. He always pointed that IBM made mistakes and that it was making a mistake with Apple also. He showed that all the wrong decisions that IBM made, the other company enjoyed it to make right decisions. The same was happening with the dispute with Apple.
To make the presentation of the advertising, Steve Jobs made a good comparison. The year was 1983. He goes in advance and talks about previsions about 1984. He means that IBM was in the hand of Apple and wants to combine forces to dominate the industry of personal computers. To finish his thought, he mentions the George Orwell’s book 1984. He compared IBM to a company that wants to control the loves of all people. After this emotional appeal, he shows the advertising.
This speech was successfully because Steve Jobs was familiar with the audience and had already a lot of credibility through that specific public. So, he did not need to show why he deserved to be listened. But more than that, he made a really successfully speech, using many strategies that were efficient, like his ice breaking at the introduction, the comparison with IBM, the emotional appeal and he did not change the type of his speech at any time, always focusing in the IBM.

Colbert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa-4E8ZDj9s

Stephen's Colbert Speech at the White House Correspondent's Dinner

The Colbert Report is a show that appears weekly on Comedy Central. The host, Stephen Colbert, has built his act upon satire on current events that are in the world today.

In this speech he talks at the President's Correspondent's Dinner. He cracks a bunch of jokes that also assault how George W Bush runs the country but in a funny manor. It takes quite a bit of talent to use jokes in a speech. At one point, he messes up his set, or series of jokes and goes backward to recover his train of thought while keeping his composure.

All in all, I really enjoyed this speech due to the humor. He picked good jokes that his audience would like and understand. So, Ienjoyed this speech in its entirety.

Well Played, Sir





The most astounding aspect of this speech (other than that he actually went through with it) is Colbert's composure. He's essentially walking into a room and insulting the President to his face, and he never once flops a sweat. In front of the press, no less, and he slags on them for good measure.

This speech is a testimony to composure and structure. Sure, it's sardonic and snarky from the beginning, but as it wears on it grits its teeth. The beginning really comes off as nothing but good-natured ribbing with everybody comfortably laughing, and ever so slowly Colbert starts circling in on his targets, taking aim. By the end of the second part, Colbert’s laying waste to everyone around him. The beauty of the speech though is that Colbert laid the groundwork that allowed him to truly speak his mind. If he had come out unapologetically wailing from the beginning, it would have been a lot easier to just cut his mike. He earned his burns, and let that be a lesson to us all in patience and precision when giving a speech.

Extra Credit Blog



I have chosen to write about the speech that was given by Stephen Colbert from Comedy Central at the 2006 White House Correspondant's Dinner. ALthough the speech last for almost 30 minutes, it's quite entertaining. Pres. Bush was in attendance, which makes the speech much more interesting because of Colbert's comedy throughout.
I found the speech to be very funny because of Colbert's use of irony and sarcasm. He also uses repetition, especially in the beginning, to make his points come across. Additionally, he involves his audience, often turning to the President to address him directly. His speed of delivery is also pleasing to listen to.
However, Colbert's speech is also flawed. At points there are long pauses, I think meant to create comedic timing, but they end up being slightly awkward. He also shows a video clip during his speech, meant to mock press conferences. The most apparent problem is that it's not very funny, and also drags on for too long.
It's very interesting to me that they would choose Colbert to speak at this dinner because of his political jokes that often attack the decisions of government officials. It does make sense though, considering his audience includes members of the press who represent all sides of the political spectrum . However, some of this jokes that attack the President, the war in Iraq, and other poltical issues to not recieve much positive response. Laughter can be heard throughout, and the jokes that get the most laughs are the ones that address broader issues. His rhetoric might be enjoyable to some, but to the president, his comments might have been offensive, revealing Colbert's bravery to do so.

What A Way To Go Out: Extra Credit Blog



First of all, I apologize for the big yellow line in the clip - I feel the speech is worth the annoyance.

This speech is at a Harvard Graduation and begins with an amazing attention getter. Will Ferrell is introduced by two student government members and then there is extremely energetic music and a brief dance by Ferrell which creates the perfect mood for his speech.

The beginning of his speech is spent joking around about which speech he should actually be presenting at - this is important because he was hired to speak at this event to provide a humerous ending to 4 years of hard work.

This section of the speech (this is part 1 of 5) is actually just the introduction to the rest of the speech so I will evaluate it only on its merits as an introduction. He does a great job of keeping eye contact with the audience and using a variety of voice tones in order to keep the speech entertaining. He gives us an idea of what will be talked about throughout the rest of the speech when he says he will 'give it to us straight'.

He concludes his introduction with yet another joke which smoothly transitions the speech into it's body while maintaining the humor that is required from a comedian speaking at a graduation. This speech also shows how perfectly calm and natural will ferrell is while performing in front of an audience. Unlike my last post (Professional Nerds) this speaker is well rehearsed and very calm.

One last bit of praise....In this speech Ferrell does a great job of using body movement and hand gestures to further keep the audience engaged. This was a very fun speech to watch!

KRS Speaks



Krs One is a rapper who started many years before me and was the beginning of what we know of rap today. But when he was rapping it meant something and the lyrics spoke to people about what was happening in the world and how they should try to make a change in the world. In this speech he talks to kids about what words really mean and how music can change things for better or for worse. He tries to teach them about how they can use their talents to spread a message and help people understand how they should be living and how people should be helping each other. He speak to kids on their level to try to reach them. He is a very emotional speaker and truly means what he is saying.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Extra Credit Blog

This video is of Oprah Winfrey giving a speech at the University of California in Los Angeles. In this speech, she endorses Obama and discusses why she is not voting based on race, age, or gender.



Obviously, Oprah has a gift for speaking, because she does so everyday on her show. Her speech about Obama, however, is much different than the way she usually speaks. Oprah maintains a good, slow pattern of speech throughout her speech and is sure to pronunciate her words. Often times, in this speech, she will repeat herself for emphasis, and this is especially effective.

The first thing I noticed while watching this video, is that the audience is in a circle around Oprah. If you think it is hard to maintain eyecontact during a speech in class, imagine having people all around you. Oprah does an excellent job of maintaining eye contact. She obviously has a set of notes because she refers back to them in order to quote someone, but she does not rely on them heavily. Many times in her speech, she turns completely around so she can see the whole audience.

The second thing that struck me about this speech, is that Oprah did an excellent job of identifying her audience. From what I saw, most of the audience was female, African American, or both. Oprah appeals highly to this demographic and she uses this speech as an opportunity to discuss why she is voting for Obama. She says it is not because she is African American and that she is not a traitor for not voting for a woman; she simply fallows what she knows to be true.

I think this was an excellent speech and I would expect nothing less from Oprah. I'm glad Oprah used her time at UCLA to discuss these topics so well.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Bill Gates speaks at Harvard

http://youtube.com/watch?v=AP5VIhbJwFs

This speech is by Bill Gates at a Harvard convention. Harvard gave him a degree after his success thirty years after he had dropped out of the pretigous university.

In this speech, Bill Gates definitely knows his audience. He is constantly interacting with the audience with jokes as attention getters in the beginning [1:05-3:00]. The audience responds by laughter as a form of feedback. He also seems calm and collect while giving his speech. He never uses any forms of hesitation like "uhs" or ums." He just seems to be relaxed. His deliver of the speech flows well. He delivers the speech at a steady pace. He also remain a connection with the audience through his constant eye contact throughout the entire speech. I like how he uses examples of buildings names such as the dorm hall he stayed to show that he on the same level as every other alumni in the building.

I believe that this speech is well presented by one of the richest men in the world. His deliver of the speech made the speech go very well on his part. The only thing that I would criticize about this speech is the fact that it sounded like he kind of reading the words off the paper instead of directly coming from him. Overall, the speech was well presented and effective.

Monday, April 7, 2008

An Abrupt Ending

The speech I chose was an old Bill Clinton speech, mainly because I think Bill Clinton is getting slightly annoying. Hence, I picked this speech because he talks about a topic that is important to me, which is education, and because he ends his speech with my favorite ending, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!"

The speech itself was a typical informative speech with a typical layout. While his introduction lacked an attention grabber, (I got bored and microwaved some food during it), I was then captivated again when he spoke of his plans in the education system.

The other thing that I noticed in his speech was his tendency to name drop, which he did at least three or four times throughout his six minute speech. I also noticed his repetition of the word "American," to appeal to the general audience. I lost count after twelve.

Clinton also mentions his wife, Hilary, which I find ironic, since she is now running for office.

Either way, Clinton had a general good layout for his informative speech. What wasn't good about his speech, was his conclusion. He could have ended his speech on an optimistic note, however, he chooses to end abruptly with a shout out to Monica Lewinsky, "I didn't have sexual relations with that woman!"

His half-attempted denial was eventually debunked after this speech, but I still find his conclusion hilarious.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Science of Assisted Reproduction




I thought that because we spent this week talking about how to correctly use powerpoint, it would be most beneficial to discuss a speech with powerpoint. The science of assisted reproduction is not a topic that specifically interests me, however, this is a good example of a speech that is enhanced by powerpoint. This speech, titled, "Babies by Design, Redefining Humans", was given by Dr. Edward McCabe, the co-founder of UCLA's Center of Society and Genetics. I believe it is fairly recent, because it was posted by UCLA on March 31st.
Dr. McCabe begins his speech with an excellent preview that clearly outlines what he intends to speak about. He chooses words that are exciting and interesting to lighten up a subject that could be considered boring. Dr. McCabe gives an informative speech about assisted reporduction technology and while he does use quite a few statistics, they are not overwhelming and remain effective. Throughout the speech, Dr. McCabe maintains a good extemporaneous delivery and good eye contact, despite the fact that he uses his notes. He also speaks very slowly & clearly. This is very effective because scientific, long words can become repetitive meaningless. Dr. McCabe is also very sure to cite the sources of his statistics and borrowed information.
The powerpoint that went along with his speech was very effective and the speech would have lacked something without it. Dr. McCabe made sure to use interesting pictures and diagrams (definitely not ClipArt) throughout the powerpoint. The diagrams were easy to read and understand. While most of the slides contained a minimal amount of words, a few attempted to pack the entire slide with information (and we know that's not good!). The only critique I have of the powerpoint presentation is that Dr. McCabe chose to use a purple background with black lettering. I think different colors would have been more effective.
Overall I think this speech was very successful. I easily understood the concepts, despite that I am not a scientist. Dr. McCabe showed how to use powerpoint to its full potential.