We’ve had some thrilling, memorable and inspiring speeches given in these here United States.
“Four score and twenty years ago…”
“I have a dream…”
“The only thing we have to fear…”
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”
You know what I’m talking about–speeches that have gone down in history as truly great.
So what happened? Are there any speeches in this modern day and age that carry the gravitas of these speeches of old? Is it a simple matter of the passage of time lending a certain weight?
I’m listening, but all I hear are lightweights and canned speeches. Do any master orators exist anymore? Any examples of modern speeches (last 15 years) that will go down in history?
Well, bear in mind that, in the 19th century, people didn’t have a whole lot of entertainment options. For people in Illinois, going out to hear Abe Lincoln argue with Stephen Douglas was the equivalent of going to a movie or a ballgame. It was fun!
Today, even IF a politician were a brilliant orator (apart from Mario Cuomo, very few are), very few people would have any interest in listening to him speechify for an hour or more. They’d get bored and tune out quickly.
Remember how Bill Clinton’s 1988 speech at the Democratic convention almost ruined his career? The speech lasted too long (and wasn’t very good, I might add), and CLinton became fodder for every standup comic in America. Carson teased CLinto so mercilessly, Bill had to make a special appearance on “Tonight” to poke fun at himself, just to live it down.
While I don’t think much of Reagan’s politics, he did a pretty good job of delivering his speech writers’ material.
The “Tear down this wall!” speech comes to mind.
On the whole, though, good speech writing is uncommon these days. Everything is geared toward the TV sound bite: “Today we’re going to highlight issue X. Let’s see…how can we state our position in ten words or less…”
Furthermore, in days of yore, politicians could give the same speech over and over again at different campaign stops, refining it, adding to it, perfecting it. What’s more, they wrote their own material.
Today, candidates can’t give the exact same speech again and again or they’d be pilloried in the press. So they are delivering many, many different speeches, usually written by someone else. It would be difficult to memorize that much material, given the time constraints on candidates, so they wind up reading most of it from tele-prompters. It shows in the wooden delivery we often get.
FWIW I think that the TV era has changed the audience expectations. We want gratification and we want it now.
Current affairs is dominated by the 15 second sound bite. Debates are about zingers. Humour is about snappy one liners.
In Sydney, Hyde Park used to be full of politicians, civic leaders, orators, sophists and people with an axe to grind literally on their soapboxes and they drew huge crowds. The forum is still there but now it’s mainly conservation protests and religious nutters and gets zilch coverage in the mainstream media.
Historically, newspapers would print the complete transcript of magor speeches. It’s uncommon to see that now. What you do see is oodles of opinions and comments on the speech. If I was fronting the podium for a keynote speech, I’d prefer that the audience heard what I actually said rather than having somebody else predigest it.
[hijack] Can anyone know if JFK wrote those speeches himself or were they drafted for him [/hijack]
I would go to hear Jesse Jackson speak again because I find him one of the most moving speakers of our day (anyone who can get my husband to get out his wallet and join the Rainbow Coalition has GOT to be good! … seriously, he’s got a gift. We went to hear him last year at a local church. The local pastor gave his sermon – which was darned good – and then the Rev. Jackson got up and we all figured ‘How could he be that much better?’ Well, he was. It was incredible to watch and experience.
Cardinal Roger Mahoney (in the archdiocese of Los Angeles) is another excellent speaker – his prayer before the Democratic Convention was eloquent and beautiful.
Speech isn’t valued like it used to be, I agree. That’s why I do work for the California High School Speech Association – to cultivate the seeds of those gifts in our students.
As CHSSA likes to say, “Sometimes, you’ve just got to speak up!”
… seriously, he’s got a gift. We went to hear him last year at a local church. The local pastor gave his sermon – which was darned good – and then the Rev. Jackson got up and we all figured ‘How could he be that much better?’ Well, he was. It was incredible to watch and experience.