Great Speeches for Public Speaking
Obama, King, Kennedy, and Other Great American Sample Speeches
Here are some great (and not so great) American speeches to use as examples in your public speaking class.
If you're teaching a public speaking class, it's a great idea to show your students examples of great (and not so great) speakers to help demonstrate concepts in the class. Here are a few famous American speeches that you can incorporate into your discussions.
Persuasive Speaking Unit: Speakers Overcoming a Difficult Situation
As your students study persuasive speaking, one of the more difficult lessons they need to learn is that speaking is a strategy. That is, for a persuasive speech to be effective, the speaker has to think critically about the best ways to persuade someone within the constraints of a situation. Of course, some speaking situations are more difficult than others. If an atheist tries to speak about atheism to an audience of evangelical Christians, for example, this will be a difficult situation.
It's helpful to show students examples of speeches in which a speaker overcomes a difficult situation strategically through their use of language. Here are a few speeches that demonstrate this concept well.
- Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" Speech: May 18, 2008.
U.S. presidental candidate Obama needed to address a difficult situation: his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was accused of saying some inflammatory and divisive things about the sensitive issue of race. Obama refused (initially) to condemn Wright or to distance himself from his pastor. To address this situation, Obama gave this speech in which he uses identification to help explain his position. He identifies himself both as a black man and a white man, telling the audience that his own white grandmother expressed racist sentiments. Obama calls upon both African American and white Americans to try to understand where the anger of the other side is coming from, and to try to transcend this.
- Barbara Bush's Wellesley College Commencement Address: June 1, 1990
First Lady Barbara Bush was scheduled to speak at the Wellesley College graduation. However, many students at this left-leaning women's college strongly opposed this, as they felt Bush was only famous because she was the wife of the president and had no accomplishments of her own. They felt she was not a good role model. To deal with this difficult situation, Bush gave a speech that was warm and humorous. She gently and strategically appealed to the audience's value of diversity, in effect saying, "Hey, I'm a stay-at-home mom. You should respect my decision because you value diversity."
Ceremonial Speeches: Use of Language
For the ceremonial speech unit, show your students examples of speakers who know how to use language in masterful ways that move people emotionally. Here are several examples.
- Ronald Reagan, Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion Eulogy: January 28, 1986
This short speech is a eulogy for the astronauts killed in the Challenger explosion, addressed to a shocked nation, including many school children who saw the explosion live on television. President Reagan's compares the astronauts to explorers of the past, and uses language effectively to comfort a nation.
- John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address: January 20, 1961
Kennedy uses language masterfully in this famous speech, including the use of antithesis, or the artistic pairing of phrases that are opposites (as in, "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.')
Examples of Excellent Delivery
- Martin Luther King, Jr.,"I Have a Dream" Speech: August 28, 1963
This is one of the most emotionally captivating American speeches of all time, and much of this is due to Dr. King's amazing ability to convey his message with heart to the audience.
- Elizabeth Dole, "This is a Defining Moment in Our Nation's History" Speech to the 1996 Democratic National Convention: August 14, 1996
In this speech, Mrs. Dole speaks in support of her husband Bob Dole, the Republican nominee for president in 1996. Mrs. Dole is a great example of a speaker who communicates very well with an audience both verbally and nonverbally. She states from the beginning of the speech that she is "speaking to friends," and leaves to podium to stand closer to the audience.
Examples of Poor Speeches
- Bill Clinton, Apology to the Nation: August 17, 2008
A good ceremonial speech needs to fulfill the audience's expectations. In an apology speech (or apologia), the speaker is supposed to, well, apologize. In Clinton's "apology" to the American people for lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, he doesn't apologize. Instead, he vents his anger.
- Vice Presidential Debate: October 13, 1992
This debate between then Vice President Dan Quayle, soon-to-be Vice President Al Gore, and Admiral James Stockdale (running mate of H. Ross Perot) is a classic example of terrible speaking on the part of all the participants. Quayle wags his finger a lot and appears to be having a temper tantrum. Gore is painfully, painfully stiff. And poor Stockdale is terrified out of his mind and comes across as a total fool-- although he gets in one really good zinger.
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