An Analysis of the Speech of President Obama on Climate Change at the Conference of Global Leadership in the Artic
President Obama spoke at the Conference of Global Leadership in the Artic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience (GLACIER) on August 31st. He delivered the closing remarks speaking about what is happening with the problem of climate change, Obama also spoke directly to the Artic nations saying that they should come together and work as one unit to fight the impact before more harm is caused to the environment and the planet passed the point of no return.
Obama uses a number of rhetorical devices or strategies to get his point across in all of his speeches. All of his speeches, including the speech at GLACIER, have a very strong consistency to them. He uses imagery and transcendence to take us from watching, listening or even being at his speeches to another place entirely. Obama can beautifully paint the portrait of what we see in our minds eye. He is also very direct in his use of movement and posture. His hand gestures let us know that he is serious and on point.
He uses Repetition like any good public speaker to get his point completely across and drilled into the listener’s mind. These techniques are called anaphora and it was used in one of the most famous speeches of all time when Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream.” This technique clearly works because we all remember speeches but by using repetition it makes it even more memorable. He uses a slow and deep voice but at the same time also keeping sounding like his natural voice to make him sound more personable. In some parts he speeds up his voice and raises the volume to underscore an important point or sentence. I believe I can take all of Obama’s successful speech traits and tweak them to make my own to get my point across when public speaking or making a speech in class.
Overall Obama’s speech traits aren’t bad they could just use a little bit of work. In the beginning when he became the youngest president he was hopeful and all of his messages came across clearly. I think over the past seven years they have become blurry and un-clear. I don’t think he needs to change much other than getting his overall point across more clearly.
