# German Dopers: Do You Find Hitler's Speeched "Mesmerizing" or "Charismatic"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079 "2012-03-17T21:49:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079/21 "2012-03-23T09:20:32Z")
> [@Snite](#): > > 1. Start off in a calm and collected manner discussing certain issues. > > 2. Adopt a cold and condescending tone while explaining the opposition’s viewpoint and use the same tone to counter those points. > > 3. Move on to an emotional appeal over how the opposition is leading the crowd astray and he just wanted to lead them right. > > 4. Based on cues given from crowd behaviour: transition from emotional to angry > > 5. Once they’re firmly in your hand start yelling. That’s exactly how I’ve always heard Mark Antony’s speech performed in the _Tragedy of Julius Caesar_. And everyone always acts like it was great oratory. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079/22 "2012-03-23T16:37:52Z")
> [@Snite](#): > > _snip_ she couldn’t remember a single thing that Hitler had actually said, just the emotional charge of the crowd and how she got swept up in it. It was actually from her mother pointing out that Hitler’s words were forgotten the same day they were said that conviced her to get out of the Hitler Youth _snip_ This and several later comments raise the question- how do speakers whose words actually _are_ remembered later, but are perhaps less captivating at the time, differ stylistically and structurally from that 5-step pattern? Does it make sense to say a lot of these big characters- the Hitlers, Castros, Churchills, Santorums and Ceasars of the speech-giving world- seem to trade a little dignity for added hype and a little content for added style? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079/23 "2012-03-23T18:43:04Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > A lot of people who aren’t fans of Nazi politics would agree that Nazi uniforms often looked pretty spiffy. Yeah, well, w[hen you’ve got Hugo Boss making your suits](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15008682), it ain’t hard to look spiffy. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079/24 "2012-03-26T00:05:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I imagine it’s the ultimate “you had to be there” deal: watching the speeches on DVD or YouTube can’t be anything like attending one of those enormous rallies. The energy of the crowd would have made for an entirely different experience. Add in new-fangled loudspeakers and an unfamiliarity with public performance where the crowds numbered in the thousands.[1] Rock stars have played to arenas for decades, but back in the 1930s it was quite new. [1] Admittedly Rome had its coliseum. But I am unaware of a lot of speech making in such contexts: I assume that after a certain crowd size amplification becomes a necessity. But maybe I am misguided. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079/25 "2012-03-26T09:21:09Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > [1] Admittedly Rome had its coliseum. But I am unaware of a lot of speech making in such contexts: I assume that after a certain crowd size amplification becomes a necessity. But maybe I am misguided. Not as much as you’d think, old theaters (including open-air ones) often have real good acoustics. Take this with a grain of salt, but a friend who was in a band and used to handle their sound mentioned that setting up a bullring for a concert is a bitch because the musicians are in the wrong spot, to the side rather than on the center of the arena. It’s partly a function of size, yes, but more so of shape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-dopers-do-you-find-hitlers-speeched-mesmerizing-or-charismatic/616079.md?page=1)