For me, the most memorable and influential speaker today would be our President Barack Obama. His confidence in his words and expressions when he publicly addresses the country are felt by almost everyone. His passion and his ability to address the main concerns of the people give him the influence to persuade and enlighten. As I was reading the social functions of rhetoric, I can already picture and hear Obama constructing his speeches in this manner.
He has his facts, he tests his ideas and the ideas of others to balance out what is the logical choice and how Americans can contribute to getting the country back on its feet. In addition, he builds a sense of patriotism, community, and distribution of power just by using his catch phrase "Yes we can". With this, he asks everyone, not just the government, to be apart of working out of the current recession that we are in. His ideas, and knowledge become contagious and that is what makes him an effective speaker.
Now in a bad speaker, for me, the most noticeable thing is when someone doesn't know their facts, and/or is not confident in what they are saying. Even if you feel like you are wrong, your mannerisms and strength in your voice can still make people listen. It is very easy to not pay attention to someone who does not also look at their audience because it is very important to connect with them. I've seen other students give presentations in classes where they do some of these things and more times than not, the message they are trying to get across is not remembered or listened to.
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Hello Uncle Chris! Can you think of an example of a bad speaker that we might all be familiar with? Is there someone in the media, past or present, that has been a bad speaker?
ReplyDelete(You presented some good observations of bad speaking habits). :)