Great Speech Analyses &
Delivery
Doris L. W. Chang
Definition of an A Speech (Fletcher)

An “A” means
– superior content,
– outstanding organization, and
– distinctive delivery.

An A speech
– gets almost everyone in the audience thinking,
excited, concerned, really wanting to hear more,
read more, and do something about what you
said.
– And most in the audience remember most of
what you said.
Presentation Outline
Def. of a “Great Speech”
 Requirements
 8 Parts to Be Included
 Sample Speech Structural Analyses
 Sample PS Skills
 Application
 Reference
 Lesson Review
 Sample Student Analyses

Requirements

1.Choose a speech you think is great
– You can consult the URL on page 2 of our
reader
– Key in “speech” or “great speech” on Google to
search for a speech to analyze

2.Prepare for your presentation
– Read the speech, analyze it, discuss, and
prepare a Power Point presentation of your
analysis

3.Total Presentation Time: 10—15 min.
Sample Presentation Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Title and speaker of the speech
Intended audience and occasion
Purpose of the speech
Main message(s)
Organization (structure) of the speech
How does the speaker achieve his/her goal
Highlight passages that impress you
Analyze why (famous quotes)
7.
8.
Practice delivery of the passage(s)
List skills you can apply to your own speech
Sample GA Manuscript Analyses
“CONTROL OF ATOMIC WEAPONS”

By Bernard Mannes Baruch, American
elder statesmen (1870-1965)

A speech given at the opening session of
the Atomic Energy Commission of the
United Nations, in New York City, on June
14, 1946
Sample Speech Analyses”
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Title: “Control of Atomic Weapon”
Speaker: Bernard Mannes Baruch, USA elder
statesman
Intended Audiences: UN delegates in the
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
Occasion: AEC meeting
Purpose: to persuade the delegates to initiate an
international law that can effectively control the
use of atomic weapons
Organization
I. Introduction
Attention Getter—Shocking Intro. 1-3
II. Body
Key Issue—International Consensus 4-6
Call for action—an Int’l law with teeth in it 7
Possibilities and Advantages 8-9
III. Conclusion
Lasting peace to be done only by understanding
& agreement fortified by sanctions
Review
Punch line that leaves the speech on a high note
Sample Manuscript (Copeland )
1.
2.
3.
We are here to make a choice between the
quick and the dead.
That is our business.
Behind the black portent of the new atomic
age lies a hope which, seized upon with
faith, can work our salvation. If we fail,
then we have damned every man to be the
slave of fear. Let us not deceive ourselves:
We must elect world peace or world
destruction.
4. Science has torn from nature a secret so vast in its
potentialities that our minds cower from the terror
it creates…. Science, which gave us this dread
power, shows that it can be made a giant help to
humanity, but science does not show us how to
prevent its baleful use. So we have been
appointed to obviate that peril by finding a
meeting of the minds and the hearts of our peoples.
Only in the will of mankind lies the answer. In
this crisis we represent…the peoples of the
world…. We must answer their demands; we
must answer the world’s longing for peace and
security.
5. …In our success lies the promise of a new
life, freed from the heart-stopping fears that
now beset the world… Only by a lasting
peace are liberties and democracies
strengthened and deepened. War is their
enemy…The peoples of the [worlds’]
democracies gathered here have a particular
concern with our answer, for their peoples
hate war…
6. The basis of a sound foreign policy, in this
new age, for all the nations here gathered, is
that: anything that happens, no matter
where or how, which menaces the peace of
the world, or the economic stability,
concerns each and all of us. That, roughly,
maybe said to be the central theme of the
United Nations. It is with that thought we
gain consideration of the most important
subject than can engage mankind—life
itself.
7. Now, if ever, is the time to act for the common
good. Public opinion supports a world movement
toward security. If I read the signs aright, the
peoples want a program, not composed merely of
pious thoughts, but of enforceable sanctions—an
international law with teeth in it.
8.We of this nations, desirous of helping to bring
peace to the world and realizing the heavy
obligations upon us, …are prepared to make our
full contribution toward effective control of atomic
energy… It must have a guarantee of safety, not
only against the offenders in the atomic area, but
against the illegal users of other weapons—
bacteriological, biological, gas—perhaps—why
not?—against war itself.
9. If we succeed in finding a suitable way to
control atomic weapons, it is reasonable to
hope that we may also preclude the use of
other weapons adaptable to mass
destruction. When a man learns to say “A”
he can, if he chooses, learn the rest of the
alphabet, too.
10. Let this be anchored in our minds:
11. Peace is never long preserved by weight of
metal or by an armament race. Peace can be
made tranquil and secure only by
understanding and agreement fortified by
sanctions. We must embrace international
co-operation or international disintegration.
12. Science has taught us how to put the atom
to work. But to make it work for good
instead of for evil lies in the domain of
dealing with the principles of human duty.
We are now facing a problem more of ethics
than of physics.
13. The solution will require apparent
sacrifice in pride and in position, but better
pain as the price of peace than death as the
price of war.
Organization Review

I. Introduction
– Attention Getter—Shocking Intro. 1-3

II. Body
– Key Issue—International Consensus 4-6
– Call for action—an Int’l law with teeth in it 7
– Possibilities and Advantages 8-9

III. Conclusion
– Lasting peace to be done only by understanding &
agreement fortified by sanctions
– Review
– Punch line that leaves the speech on a high note
12. Science has taught us how to put the atom
to work. But to make it work for good
instead of for evil lies in the domain of
dealing with the principles of human duty.
We are now facing a problem more of ethics
than of physics.
13. The solution will require apparent
sacrifice in pride and in position, but better
pain as the price of peace than death as the
price of war.
Detailed Structure 1
1.Brief, yet powerful opening—key decision
2-3.Punch line—
2.significance of meeting
3.Choice between world peace or war
4.Background—what science can & can’t do
5.Consensus—peoples hate war
6.Consensus—answer opposite opinion
Sound foreign policy is based on the consensus of the
inter-connectedness of all peoples and all nations
Detailed Structure 2

7. Consensus to Action
– an international law with teeth in it

8.Possibilities & Advantages
– Effective control of atomic weapons prevent
even war itself
9.Future Prospects
 10. Lasting peace—the only choice

– It can only be secured by agreement fortified by
sanctions
Detailed Structure 3
12. Review—what science can/can’t do and
the meeting’s key task
 13.Conclusion—

– Understanding of difficulties (pride & position)
– A better choice vs a worse choice
» Pain as the price of peace
» Death as the price of war
Style Analyses 1
--Brief Statements with Contrasts

Highlight Samples
– We are here to choose between the quick and the dead.
– We must elect world peace or world destruction.
– We must embrace international co-operation or
international disintegration.
– We are now facing a problem more of ethics than of physics
– Better pain as the price of peace than death as the price of
war.

Effects
– Highlight the consequences of causes, effects, and
importance
– Lead to the intended choice—peace
– Repetitions with variations
Sharp and Vivid Images & Metaphors

1. Sharp image
– ….the peoples want a program, not composed merely of
pious thoughts, but of enforceable sanctions—an
international law with teeth in it

2.Effective metaphor
– [effective control of atomic weapon] must have a
guarantee of safety, not only against the offenders in the
atomic area, but against the illegal users of other
weapons—bacteriological, biological, gas—why not?—
against war itself.
– When a man learns to say “A,” he may, if he chooses,
learn the rest of the alphabet, too.
Possible Applications
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
We are now facing a task of how you say it than
what you say.
To speak, or not to speak, that is a question!
We must choose between suffocating silence and
interactive eloquence!
Public speaking is not only about what you say,
but more importantly, about how you say it!
We refuse to be drowned in the sea of silence
when effective communication is in every way a
better solution.
If one can learn the basics of public speaking, he
may, if he chooses, learn the rest kinds of speech
applications.
Reference
Copeland, Lewis, and Lawrence W. Lamm.
The World’s Great Speeches. Third Ed. Mineola,
N. Y.: Dover, 1973.
Fletcher, Leon. How to Design and Deliver a
Speech. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 1998.
Lesson Review: 8 Items to Include
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1.Title and speaker of the speech
2. Intended audience and occasion
3.Purpose of the speech
4.Main message(s)
5.Organization (structure) of the speech
– How does the speaker achieve his/her goal
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
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6.Highlight passages that impress you & analyze
why (famous quotes)
7.Practice delivery of the passage(s)
8.List skills you can apply to your own speech
Sample Student GA
Great Speech Analyses & Delivery
“Who Then Will Speak for the Common Good?”
by Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
Presented by:
Bella, Carolin, Denise,
Helen Melissa Sherry
Presentation Outline


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About Barbara Jordan and Her Speech
Occasion & Audience Analyses
Structural Analyses
4 Skills We Learn from Her Speech
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Q&A
Parallelism
Sympathy
Framing & Quotation in Conclusion
References
• Title: “Who Then Will Speak for the
Common Good?”
• Speaker: Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
• Intended Audiences: members of the
Democratic Party.
• Occasion: the 1976 convention of the
Democratic Party in New York
• Purpose: to call on the members of the
Democratic Party to lead the way for
upholding the common good.
Overall Evaluation of the
Speech
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Strengths: (Why we consider the speech as a
great speech for analyses)
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Its effective introduction & conclusion
The four skills we can learn and apply
The Instructor’s Comment:


How does the speaker tailor her speech to the
occasion and how effective is the speech in
delivering her message and persuading about
equality (upheld by Democratic Party)?
How effective is her delivery (if any audio
materials is provided)?
Parallel & Contrast  Proposal
•I could list the many problems which
Americans have.
•I could list the problems which cause
people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated:
problems include lack of integrity; the
feeling that the grand American experiment
is failing or has failed.
•I could recite these problems and then I
could sit down and offer no solutions.
•But I don’t choose to do that either.
Quotation for a Memorable
Conclusion
• Now, I begin this speech by
commenting to you on the uniqueness
of a Barbara Jordan making the
keynote address.
• Well I am going to close my speech by
quoting a Republican President and I
ask you that as you listen to these words
of Abraham Lincoln, relate them to the
concept of national community in
which every last one of us participates:
“ As I would not be a slave, so I
would not be a master. This expresses
my idea of Democracy. Whatever
differs from this, to the extent of the
difference is no Democracy.”
---Abraham Lincoln
Thank you for your attention!
Reference

“A Tribute to Barbara Jordan”1936-1996
http://www.elf.net/bjordan/default.asp
--with her photo,
-Opening of Barbara Jordan's address to the Judiciary
Committee considering impeachment of then
President Richard Nixon.

This led to Barbara Jordan's Keynote Speech at
the 1976 Democratic National Convention.
Assignment

1.Choose a speech you think is great
– You can consult the URL on page 2 of our
reader
– Key in “speech” or “great speech” on Google to
search for a speech to analyze

2.Prepare for your presentation
– Read the speech, analyze it, discuss, and
prepare a Power Point presentation of your
analysis

3.Total Presentation Time: 10—15 min.