Obamas Speech Business Communication Review

After analysing Barack Obama’s victory speech first thing that comes to mind is his strong delivery. His delivery style exuded confidence and it had a clear sense of purpose. He drew in the audience using the pause and gave them ample time to process the information in between. The language he used was simple but he used them to great effect to deliver strong messages.
He formed a connection with the audience using inclusive language. He made the speech about the audience using words like We, Our, You, Your. He also used location people are familiar with like ‘Halls of Washington’ ‘Backyard of Des Moines’.
Like Martin Luther King using ‘I have a dream’ Obama also used the power of repetition. Throughout the speech he used’ tonight’s the answer’ to emphasize the fact that he will try to resolve all the problems of the citizen.
He also used sensory triggers like ‘bitter cold’ ‘scorching heat’ etc so that audience can feel the change happening through action rather than words. He also used alliteration to deliver memorable lines like "We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
The speech also had a strong structure. He projects strength using repeated and parallel structure of his sentence. For Example-
"To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you.
To those who seek peace and security – we support you."
He also reached out to people using a illustrative story of a 106 year old woman to reach out to many using the story of one. He then built up to a rousing finish using his trademark phrase ‘Yes We Can’.

Analysing by the 7 C’s principle we can see that Obama’s speech was-
1. Clear-The speech had a clear focus on Obama’s plans for America’s future and he managed to convey most of his goals.
2. Concrete-Obama spoke in concrete terms about the people who gave him their support and helped him with his campaign.
“You’ll hear the determination ….. come home”
3. Concise-The speech was mostly to the point and he wrapped up the speech in 20 minutes but still managed to highlight the important points.
4. Correct-The speech was factually and grammatically correct and it fit the audience.
5.Coherent- It followed a coherent structure with Obama first thanking his supporters, highlighting his vision for America and its strengths and then asking people to carry the dream forward.
6. Courteous-The language Obama used was very simple and he always tried to maintain a connection with his audience portraying himself as a common family man.
7. Complete-Obama didn’t give any unclear message or objective and tried to explain everything he mentioned so that audience understood everything he said.