I have had the privilege of hearing addresses from so many speakers, it is hard to pin point one and say that his or her speech was the best. As I had stated in an earlier blog, when I was rather young, the first time I heard Martin Luther King Jr. speech, "I Have a Dream", I was moved. His voice was so empowering as well as his message. He stood behind a platform with such strength and pride, I was enraptured in every word that flowed from his mouth. After hearing his speech, I set out to learn everything I could possibly learn about him. His speech had sent me on a mission to learn his history, who he really was, where he came from and what brought him to his death. I think I can say that I became truly interested in history after I had heard his speech. I wanted to know everything about this man and prior to that, I had little interest in history (granted, I was still very young!). Now, I am a history major and as I look back, I think I can say after hearing MLK's speech, that was what set me on the course to learn as much as I possibly could about our history.
The worst speaker I believe is a bit of a touchy subject. I am not hoping to offend anyone, but I have to say that George W. Bush was not gifted with the form of great communication skills. The poor guy. So many times I watched him perform his speeches and it seemed for the most part, he was fumbling his way through his speeches. He often became tongue tied and from time to time would lose his train of thought. He always had to read directly from his notes which I do not believe would qualify as a great speaker. I personally believe a great speaker should have notes to refer to, not cite word-for-word. Granted, it must have been very nerve wrecking to be on a stage knowing millions upon millions of people are watching you talk, but he was after all our leader, I think he maybe should have taken a few communication courses at his community college to help him learn a few skills. And as I have said, I do not mean this to be mean or harsh or to offend anybody, this is just my personal feeling and I believe we are all entitled to that!
Kate
I completely agree with you on both of your posts. I wrote about Bill Clinton too, and felt that the way he represents himself with confidence really backs up what he says. His speeches are so empowering and leave people wanting to hear more, in my opinion. I think It all has to do with the way he carries himself, the way he speaks with knowledge, and by not allowing us to take notice that he may or may not be using a teleprompter, it seems that he is so passionate about what he is speaking on which easily can captivate an audience. I also agree with George Bush, I understand that it is nerve wracking to speak in front of millions of people but at the same time its his job as he is leading millions of people.
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