William Jennings Bryan gave his famous “Cross of Gold” speech in July of 1896. With this speech, he attained a spot on the presidential ballot for the Democratic nominee position. The issue at hand was to decide whether or not free coinage of silver of sixteen to one, silver to gold, should be supported. His speech was so inspiring that he was asked to reiterate parts of it for Gennett Records, and even though the full effect is not present, it gives a new generation a chance to hear the majestic words. Bryan was taking advantage of his ability to captivate listeners through his words. He related to his audience, the middle and lower class americans who would greatly benefit from the free coinage of silver, and made them feel as if someone …show more content…
Bryan pointed out flaws that the other contenders possessed and used this to his own advantage to receive the desired effect of acceptance. He presented the party’s platform on how they planned to make the free coinage of the silver happen; he also makes many points on how the government is not made up of humble beings, but instead, people that are selfish and do not have the good of the people in the forefront of their minds. Bryan really focused his efforts towards change. He stated multiple times that change in the nations currency was a must and did not shy away from telling the people that the exact same people who were promoting the competition of free silver coinage, had since changed their positions on the current gold standard to something completely different. By pointing out the …show more content…
King was always able to spark a response of great magnitude from all of the people who were in the crowds. He was able to accomplish this by using a lot of proper diction and syntax. Religion, war, and politics were included in his speeches to appeal to the masses. King probably would not have been quite as effective had he not been such a great presenter or used so many appeals to get the crowds involved and make his speeches memorable. Any person who knows how to present the information in a way that is desirable and ignites a response from the audience members is going to be effective no matter what the topic is. This is the reason that it is a very important factor for the person giving the speech to know the audience that he is presenting to. Bryan knew the audience of which he was targeting before hand and he did everything within his power to be absolutely positive that he could appeal to the majority of the people in the audience. His uncanny ability to make people feel a certain way about a text or speech is precisely how Bryan captured the support of the entire audience and sparked such an enormous reaction. Another effective speaker was President John F. Kennedy. He was able to spark astonishing responses from spectators through his vivid examples, use of metaphors and similes, and he spoke with honesty and truth. A trait that many politicians seem to lack. William Bryan was a
Acknowledging their audience is something both Kennedy and King did. They both gave powerful addresses that caused great movement and change to happen, by the way they spoke and their presentation being diverse. Kennedy used note cards and noticeably looked down at them due to the fact that he changed his works up until the night before he gave the speech. The consequence to doing this made it so that he did not have time to memorize it. Due to this he was not as practiced and prepared. On the other hand, King is a practiced speaker (being a baptist minister for many years). He was a little more powerful and you could feel and see his emotion because he did not look down at note cards and knew his speech perfectly and knew when to raise his voice and show more emotion on his face. Kings crowd got exceedingly noisy at times (Martin Luther King ‘I Have … ‘). King was voicing his thoughts to the minority. His audience was mostly African American, but included a few white people supporting the cause. You can hear them shout.”hallelujah” or “amen” and clapping throughout his address (Martin Luther King ‘I Have … ‘). Compared to Kennedy’s audience which was much smaller and mostly upper class citizens. It was freezing outside that day and only a few people were brave enough to go out in the cold. This crowd did not shout out or clap as much (John F. Kennedy ‘inauguration … ‘ ). Although the audiences and speakers were slightly adverse, both addresses were impressive and
His use of an absolute and unwavering tone establishes an incompatibility between the interests of the public and the recent greedy actions of steel corporations. This creates an ‘us vs. them’ mentality, that Kennedy continuously emphasizes throughout his speech to further justify his opposition to steel companies as a defense for the “public interest.” After directly stating his opinion, Kennedy shifts his speech towards the current events of the time, citing the “grave crises in Berlin”, the Vietnam War, and the limitations on union members. This use of logic seeks to sway the audience to join his opposition to the 3.5 percent rise in steel prices.
In 1964, the United States was still recovering from a recession when the steel companies decided to raise the price of steel by 3.5 percent. President John F. Kennedy held a press conference to discuss the issue of steel prices. In his speech, John F. Kennedy attempts to reverse the public support for the steel companies by casting them as unpatriotic and greedy to make them look bad.
Edwards and King both are very powerful speakers. They know how to capture their audience's attention merely through words. Both King and Edwards wanted people to change their ways, though not for the same reason. They both put all they had into their speeches making them very emotional speakers. With their words they painted pictures of what they wanted the people to think of as they listened.
“Give me liberty or give me death!” (72). These are the famous words Patrick Henry delivered to the delegates of Virginia in 1775. As times of war were quickly approaching the colonies, Henry gave this speech to the Virginia Convention, urging the delegates to fight against Britain. These passionate words continue to ring over the United States today, now a free nation partially due to his patriotic speech. How was Henry able to persuade the delegates on such a controversial topic at the time? With the use of repetition, metaphors, and rhetorical questions, Henry is able to create the persuasive piece of literature, Speech in the Virginia Convention, that not only changed the views of the delegates in 1775, but changed the future of America.
He has the audience infer that the steel companies raising their prices was what they were doing for their country, and what they were doing was not helping like Kennedy has wished. This reference back to something that had a huge impact on many people strengthens Kennedy’s point of view and helps him achieve his
“Give me liberty or give me death!” This statement from Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” delivered to the House of Burgesses, has been quoted by many, becoming almost cliché. However, the declaration is truly understood by a select few. The unjust Stamp Act passed by the British crown in 1765, brought fame and notoriety to Henry as he spoke out against the unjust taxation without representation. Ten years later on the eve of revolution, Henry calls upon the Colonial government of which he is part, to act for the betterment of the people. Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on their patriotism and pride as leaders of colonial America.
I personally believe King possesses the use of rhetorical appeals very effectively.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s Voting Rights Speech was given on March 15, 1965. In the past, America had a hard time trying to give African Americans voting rights even though they gained their freedom years before, but, it was hopefully all going to change. Johnson supported the idea of African Americans having the right to vote and he worked his hardest to talk Congress into passing this law. In his speech he’s talking to both the American Citizens and Congress trying to gain their support. When he was trying to get the support of the American people he went out of his way just to show them that this issue was about much more.
On March 15, 1965 in Washington D.C ……..the courageous President Lyndon B. Johnson has delivered a legendary speech. It was called, “We shall overcome.” The speech came into conjunction, after the sad death of a black protester in Selma, Alabama. The protest was over black voting rights. Blacks were simply discriminated against voting rights on the basis of their skin color. Johnson’s aspiration for the “we shall overcome” speech, was to convince the congress, Americans, to pass his bill. This would be beneficial by enabling blacks to vote. Johnson is widely known for his effective use of ethos, logos, and pathos to engage the crowd.
Martin Luther King, Jr was an exceptional orator who knew how to persuade an audience into adopting his own beliefs and changing their perspectives through the way he weaved language techniques into his speeches. To add further impact, he delivered his message in a dominant, strong, emotional way in order to show that the African-American society were not afraid to fight against the unjustly treatment they endured for so long and that they weren’t taking no for an answer in regards to civil rights.
Alexander Stephens was the vice president of the Confederate states of America during the civil war (1861-1865) and he is the one who gave the famous speech known as “the Cornerstone Speech” where he stated openly the ideas on which the new government was founded: the supremacy of whites over blacks. Stephens played an important role in drafting the new constitution and he had the opportunity to present the new form of government in the speech that took place in Savannah on March 21, 1861.
The "Emancipation Proclamation" speech was actually intended for most of the people that would free the slaves, not to the slaves. According to Rollyson the proclamation was not intended for the slave, blacks, or former slaves. The “Emancipation Proclamation” speech was during the Antislavery Movement or what some people call it the Abolitionist Movement, during the 1960's. The main leaders of the abolitionist movement were Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. The point of Lincoln writing the speech about emancipating the slaves was to free the slaves and win the civil war. Lincoln had written a speech named "The Emancipation Proclamation". He wrote this speech and signed it in January of 1863, in Washington, D.C. The theme of the speech was to teach everyone that everyone, no matter what race should be treated equally. In the "Emancipation Proclamation" speech, Abraham Lincoln motivates his intended audience during the Antislavery movement by using pathos and rhetorical question.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln was asked to say a few words at the opening of a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg stood as one of the bloodiest battles in America’s Civil War and the Governor felt that these fallen soldiers needed a better resting place. Lincoln had a problem with the people in his country that happened to be in war fighting against each other for the freedom of blacks, which they currently did not have. When Lincoln came to give his speech he had many people on the edge of their seats listening to him word for word. He takes his time in what he says and chooses his words precisely. Some may not apprehend what Lincoln was actually saying whether they were soldiers or people who were mourning the loss of their family members. He wanted to let the families and armed forces know that he's proud of what they have done; although, he may also be marginally disenchanted since his country is fighting against one another. He reveres these people no matter what side they are on and hopes for the freedom of slaves whil...
Renowned and engaging speakers have the ability to connect their values and ideas to greater causes and principles, leaving an enduring impact on the audience. You may be questioning what makes a great speaker? And what qualities and features contribute to the formation of a powerful speech? It is understood that a great speaker has the ability to communicate to larger truths and carve those truths on the audience’s hearts and minds as they surpass the context, place and time of the deliverance of the speech, and focus on conveying their ideas and values.