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

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.