Obama 2004 Speech
First Analysis - Obama's 2004 DNC Cpeech
This is the first entry in this site looking at great speeches in history, in movies, in business – wherever they can be found. Suggest some speeches, and if they’re great I’ll analyse them. The purpose of this blog is to try and give you some insight into why speeches work and how you can craft a speech that will win the argument, win the business, or maybe even win the heart of a loved one. In each case I’ll give some history to place the speech into context (either into the context of the speaker’s life or the context of surrounding historical events), some general comments and an in-depth review of the speech. I will reproduce the speech according to how it was delivered wherever I can source the video or audio of the speech being delivered, and I use a single line space where the speaker took a small pause and a double line space where there was a larger, more definite pause or a break in the speech to move to a new section. So here’s the first speech!
Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Conference Speech
The first speech I’m going to look at is Barack Obama’s speech to the Democrat National Conference in 2004. John Kerry was the Democrat candidate for the Presidency, and Obama had the keynote spot at the Conference. This speech needs little introduction, and I think it is the most effective of all of Obama’s speeches. Why the most effective? It turned him from someone with massive potential who was known amongst political circles into a political celebrity.. 0-60 in one speech.
What worked well?
A great speech brings together three aspects – the right speaker, with the right message, at the right time. Sometimes you may be the wrong speaker, sometimes the message won’t be right and sometimes the timing of the speech isn’t perfect (i.e. when you are giving it rather than the timing in the delivery). A great speechwriter convinces the audience that all three of these aspects are in perfect alignment, like some
This is the first entry in this site looking at great speeches in history, in movies, in business – wherever they can be found. Suggest some speeches, and if they’re great I’ll analyse them. The purpose of this blog is to try and give you some insight into why speeches work and how you can craft a speech that will win the argument, win the business, or maybe even win the heart of a loved one. In each case I’ll give some history to place the speech into context (either into the context of the speaker’s life or the context of surrounding historical events), some general comments and an in-depth review of the speech. I will reproduce the speech according to how it was delivered wherever I can source the video or audio of the speech being delivered, and I use a single line space where the speaker took a small pause and a double line space where there was a larger, more definite pause or a break in the speech to move to a new section. So here’s the first speech!
Obama’s 2004 Democratic National Conference Speech
The first speech I’m going to look at is Barack Obama’s speech to the Democrat National Conference in 2004. John Kerry was the Democrat candidate for the Presidency, and Obama had the keynote spot at the Conference. This speech needs little introduction, and I think it is the most effective of all of Obama’s speeches. Why the most effective? It turned him from someone with massive potential who was known amongst political circles into a political celebrity.. 0-60 in one speech.
What worked well?
A great speech brings together three aspects – the right speaker, with the right message, at the right time. Sometimes you may be the wrong speaker, sometimes the message won’t be right and sometimes the timing of the speech isn’t perfect (i.e. when you are giving it rather than the timing in the delivery). A great speechwriter convinces the audience that all three of these aspects are in perfect alignment, like some