A speech is just a spoken essay, which seems pretty simple and easy. But speeches require a lot more components than just any normal typed essay. You need to have a specifically clear outline, distinct transitions, both of which need the help of the tones and volumes in your voice. Enthusiasm seems to be the distinguishing point between a good speech and a great speech. Two different people could read the same outline for a speech but have two entirely different outcomes depending on their voices and how they change and project them.
There were a number of great speeches that I have heard in the past week from all my classmates. A lot of which had superb content, facts and a solid thesis. But the people that stuck out were the people who were genuinely enthusiastic about their topic; whether it was true enthusiasm or not, it made the difference. The differing tones in their voices made it that much easier to follow along with their speech because it held my attention. They also strategically changed their voices when transitioning into their next points which allowed me to almost make a mental diagram of their outline.
This speech was interesting all throughout. The speaker constantly engages in the audience by relating real life situations and allowing students and even parents to relate to what he's speaking about. He adds music and humor to his speech which makes a significant difference in keeping his audience listening. One specific thing he talked about was proposing to a girl. He was building up the tension within his voice by speaking quickly in addition to the fast guitar tempo. This whole scenario of a girlfriend was actually a metaphor to applying, being accepted and choosing a college. The metaphor kept me particularly interested because I questioned why this girl was so important to him in high school. Great speeches involve emotion and enthusiasm, differing tone and a solid layout so that your audience can follow along; all of which this high school valedictorian did a great job of showing.
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Holy Wow. I Did It.
Wow. This was quite the nerve wracking presentation but I was pleasantly surprised with myself. My preparation processes was average but suf...
I agree with everything you say in this post about why it is important for speakers to connect with their audience. I like your thesis in the last sentence of the first paragraph a lot. I think it may be interesting if you elaborated on why presentation is so important in distinguishing between speeches.
ReplyDeleteI have actually seen this speech! My friend and I had to give a speech at our graduation so of course we went on a graduation speech watching spree instead of writing our speeches. I also agree that this speech is incredible. I specifically remember how much he connected to his audience and I was always absorbed by the speech. He took a unique approach to the situation that made it far less boring since most people during this occasion think of the speech as just a formality to graduation.
ReplyDeleteI think that engaging the audience is by far the most important thing that a speaker can do. Whether that's through enthusiasm or by using different tones of their voice, there's many different ways to create enthusiasm in a speech. I think that audience members are notorious for losing interest quickly in a topic if their not engaged, so the effective use of enthusiasm by speakers is definitely a characteristic of a great speech.
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