An Analysis of Barack Obama’s Third Presidential State of the Union Address

Barack Hussein Obama ll is the actual president of the United States who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii 1961. After completing his law degree at Harvard School and working on political issues, on January 20, 2009, Obama was elected president of the United States. (Barack Obama) In the Third Presidential State of the Union Address speech, President Obama is talking about the economic, social and political accomplishment he has done with effort and working as a team. President Obama successfully use his communication skills to engage the audience and make a call to action during his descriptive speech. In one hand, the speech in the Third Presidential State of the Union Address delivered by President Obama presented to the 114th United States Congress with the purpose to inform the accomplishments during his time election and to announce the upcoming goals for the coming year. (2016 State of the Union Address) Also, during this meeting is a great opportunity to gather the congress representatives in a single place. (State of the Union Bingo) President Obama cover wide open subjects like the economical field, immigration situation, medical approaches and environmental concerns. President Obama opens his speech with a great introduction strategy to engage the audience. According to Joann Brown in her book Speaking with Confidence, she states three key goals of the introduction. First, gain the audience’s attention. Second, clearly state the presentation’s central idea and third, briefly preview the presentation’s main points. Therefore, President Obama begins with a startling event about the troops who came back from Iraq. By telling this big event President Obama totally gains the audience’s attention.

As President Obama continuous his speech, during the minute 2:36 he states the central idea of the speech by saying “Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example”. These words were spoken in a persuasive way in which the audience feel a need for action. After a few seconds, President Obama say “a country that leads the world in educating its people; an America that attracts a new generation of high-tech manufacturing and high-paying jobs; a future where we’re in control of our own energy, and our security and prosperity aren’t so tied to unstable parts of the world; an economy built to last, where hard work pays off, and responsibility is rewarded”. Stating these points President Obama resumes the topics he will cover during his speech. According to the book Speaking with Confidence, in Module 5 the author Brown states that during a persuasive speech there are different types of claims. The claim of fact, claim of value and claim of policy. Doing the connection with President Obama’s speech, he continuous his speech by mentioning the importance of helping people who want to be part of this great nation and he says, “But if election-year politics keeps Congress from acting on a comprehensive plan, let’s at least agree to stop expelling responsible young people who want to staff our labs, start new businesses, defend this country. Send me a law that gives them the chance to earn their citizenship. I will sign it right away”. Hence, these words point out the claim of policy, which mean that people take action about the subject purposed. Finally, President Obama not only covers the topics he mentions in the introduction but also in the way we deliver his speech make the audience have a feeling of patriotism. Beyond of the tangible facts or achievements he has earned during his government, President Obama restates his position of going forward until every single American has equal and fair opportunities.