http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMqcLUqYqrs

Roza Dul

Jeff Daniels could most likely be associated with his role of Harry in Dumb and Dumber back in the 90’s with Jim Carrey. Now, years later and starring as a TV anchor named Will McAvoy in the political drama Newsroom, he delivers a very interesting speech during a debate answering a question of what makes America the greatest country in the world. His answer, shocking the audience, is that it isn’t anymore, but that it could be. He immediately captures the interest of the audience by his insult of the girl asking the question. At that point everyone is ready to slaughter him, but just then he says that America in fact was the greatest country in the world, “…we didn’t scare so easy. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered.” The facts that he presented and the description of American citizens from the past inspires the whole room to listen. The audience changes from outraged to interested and he manages to inspire everyone to the point of taking out their cellphones and taking a video of him speaking.

Even though at first he keeps avoiding the question, he later lays out an impromptu shock speech that through his delivery leaves the audience amazed. He tells the audience of all the negative things, but then reminds them of all the good, and the fact that we have the ability to change them. He definitely has a powerful impact on the audience in a sense that he shakes them up. He tackles the question from the other end, and says what people don’t really want to hear, but deep down realize is the truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6klClwZVHfE

Valerie Auciello

Ross Capicchioni’s story is one of inspiration and admiration. At the age of just 17, he was gunned down in cold blood. The shooter was a boy two years younger than Ross; the act of violence was part of a gang initiation. Ross was left to die, struggling to find the power to keep conscious and not submit to the pain. Eventually, he was taken back to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on the scene. However, one doctor decided to keep fighting, the same decision Ross made when he initially was shot. Don’t give up. Days later, he awoke and was able to come home.

As compelling as Ross’s story is, the way in which he tells it is what really draws the audience in. As Ross narrates his story from the viewpoint of a 17 year old, he speaks as if he is conversing rather than lecturing. He may not be delivering a traditional speech, but the impact is still as powerful. Ross gains credibility from the audience by the way in which he speaks. He has a sincere and genuine tone throughout this story. Additionally, he makes use of inflection in voice and pauses to emphasize certain focal points. I believe that in this class, we should strive to mimic the fluidity of speech and ways in which Ross narrates his story. As a member of the audience, I felt invested in what he was saying and wanted to continue listening. Our peers are roughly the same age as Ross, so we should   try to use his same techniques in our speeches in order to keep our audience equally as intrigued in what we are arguing.

In the conclusion of Ross’s story, he remarks, “this is my world.” He made the decision not to let the rest of his life be determined by his prior misfortune. This is our world. How will you influence it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0MpZpW8P2Y

In the beginning of this speech, Kevin Rudd (politician) responds to a comment on why he chose to ‘flip flop’ on issues such as marriage equality. His response is excellent; thought out, and thoroughly addresses his view on same sex marriage. However, at 2:00, he sets up a trap towards the pastor that receives such a profound response from the audience, and I believe this is what made his speech so incredible and worthy of putting up here. Rudd asks the pastor why he believes everyone shouldn’t have the same right to get married, to which he simply responds ‘I believe in what the Bible says, and the Bible defines marriage between a man and a woman.’ Rudd then says that the Bible also says that slavery is a natural act—and following this statement, the audience explodes with applause and cheering. This point in the speech made Kevin Rudd’s argument overpower whatever the pastor was saying, and he quite simply looked pretty foolish standing up there and staring Rudd down.
I believe that Rudd’s speech was so incredibly moving not only because of the pure sass he let out at the Bible comment, but because it was quite obvious that he did not agree with what the pastor was saying one bit. However, throughout the entire speech, he remained respectful and composed towards the man, and made no direct attacks towards him. Instead, he used pure facts to prove exactly why the pastor’s thinking was too outdated. I think a lot of politicians make this mistake—they are afraid to change their opinions in fear of being dubbed a ‘flopper’ but in doing so, they keep outdated opinions that—with time—people start to disagree with. Part of what makes this speech so powerful is also the fact that Kevin Rudd was not afraid to admit that what he originally thought was wrong. He admitted he was wrong. For a politician to admit that they are wrong makes them so much more relatable, and brings a sort of ‘human’ aspect to them, that most of their colleagues don’t have. And as a public speaker, Kevin Rudd immediately gained a lot of credibility with his audience.

-Amba Jagnarine

               Over the summer, I got a job as a telemarketer. A telemarketer is basically a person who is attempting to sell, or market, something over the phone. Unless you’re really good at communicating, there’s a very steep learning curve that comes with the job. And unfortunately, I’m not good at communicating.  But I stuck with it, it was my first real job and I wanted to get good at it.

                During my time as a telemarketer, I noticed the different methods my co-workers used over the phone. One established rapport with the people he was calling; he turned a random person into a friend by speaking within mutual topics. Another would basically hype up the people he called into listening (if you’ve seen Boiler Room, you know what I mean.). What I concluded is that, no matter their style, they’ve been doing this long enough so that communication to them is second-nature, like holding a fork. It’s like any other skill; you start off awkwardly with the fork, trying different poses until it feels comfortable. And eventually, you don’t even have to think about it, you just pick up the fork and eat.

                The only thing that stands between being a stuttering and awkward speaker and the next contestant on “Shark Tank” is time. Like anything from sports to studying, it all depends on how fast you’re able to learn. Usually, I’m a pretty quick learner. But in this particular situation, I seriously went off course. The fact that this particular job only pays on commission, and I was basically allowed to come in whenever I wanted, appealed to the inner slacker in me. As a result, I didn’t get that good. My communication skills somewhat improved, but that’s about it.

                I want to apply the things we learn in class to my job and vice versa. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll one day become a good telemarketer.

Alex Abramov

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoWiV6Q8qME

Shaquile King

Dr. Cornel West’s speech at the Oxford Union was a captivating and powerful speech. At the meeting his main point was to talk about the Occupy Wall street movement and the injustice found in our American justice system. The manner in which the speech was given was very interesting to me because of the energy Dr. West had and the passion he had for the topic.  One of the first things you’ll notice about the speaker is he engages the audience with his body language. Dr. West throughout his entire presentation frequently uses hand gestures, poses, and other facial gestures to keep the audience interested and focused on what he has to say. In addition he uses his eyes many times to help display certain emotions to the audience.

In addition to his body language Cornel West also has an interesting way of orally presenting his words. His constant use of figurative language and change in tone aids him in setting certain moods. An example of this is when he talks about President Barack Obama’s war activities at the 6:50-7:14 mark. Before he comes to his statement about the president he changes his posture and tone which in a way alerted the audience that he was getting ready to share his main point about the president on the subject. He pauses and calls the President, “A war criminal with a Nobel peace prize.” The statement that Dr. West made was a very controversial statement, but it helped him to maintain the audience’s attention and interest in the speech.

Last but not least Dr. West related to his audience. In the room there were many people with different ethnic and religious backgrounds. He used this to expand his discussion about Injustice in America to Global injustice. While doing this he gave facts and examples about other places in the world and how it related to his point which helped to gain both the audiences sympathy and respect for the Occupy Wall street movement. Through the use of his body language, wording and ability to relate to the audience Dr. West gained applaud and a favorable reaction from the crowd. The speech simply showed that an audience can be greatly influenced by the way a speech is presented to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

(Maahi Chowdhury)

        The video above, is Dr. Randy Pausch’s inspirational one hour and sixteen minute speech about achieving your childhood dreams. Pausch, diagnosed with advanced stages of pancreatic cancer delivers, a buoyant however profound message. Personally, after watching the video, it was hard to choose another speech, his speech was simply the most effective and resounding. The video, demonstrates the audience’s pleasure toward Pausch, with constant applause and laughter, the audience was ecstatic. For viewers like me, who watched it six years later, the video itself received 16 million views, with a 97% approval rating. Pausch, demonstrates through his life how to overcome obstacles, build successes, fulfill childhood dreams, but most of all lead your life.

        In his speech, Pausch aims to do two things inform and inspire. Pausch, a Professor at Carnegie Mellon, informs those in attendance the importance of head fakes (meta-lessons learned through different objectives/mediums). Head fakes become a central part of the message and the speech is revealed as a head fake itself. The Speech initially taught the audience how to achieve their childhood dreams through anecdotes, maxims, and lessons he learned. However, as Pausch spoils at the end, the speech’s true intent was to inspire you to live a meaningful and successful life. Pausch effectively, achieves his message by inspiring his audience. He paints vivid situations in his life, and demonstrates to us how he managed to overcome various obstacles. He shows us the importance of brick walls in our life, and they are only tests to find the most ambitious people. He sets such simple goals, that anyone could have had, and builds upon them to bigger better accomplishments. For example, his desire to become a Imagineer at Disney prompts him to make the right connections, and take a six month sabbatical at Disney World. He later is offered a full time job at Disney but refuses.  Pausch is also very charismatic, humble, and humorous through the entire speech. He is seen making comments to his peers; talking right to them as he regales his story, and even has the entire audience sing Happy Birthday to his wife. The speech made me self reflect, which in essence are the objectives of communication, a job well done Dr. Pausch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni0YLzQqHPc

As you may know, the news was recently consumed with the shocking release video on the confession of Matthew Cordle, a 22 year old man, who struck and killed Vincent Canzani while drunk driving on June 22nd 2013. During his 3 ½ minute long confession video, Matthew conveyed a powerful and influential message on accepting consequences based upon your actions. Within his video, Matthew did the unexpected. He directly confessed to killing a 61 year old man while being under the heavy influence of alcohol. He did not attempt to bring up excuses for his deadly actions on that tragic night; he simply openly stated that he is guilty and that he will take full responsibility for what he had done and the justice that will come. Initially, Matthew starts the video with his face blurred and his voice disguised. His intention was to show to the public that he had the opportunity to do the cowardly thing; simply lie and avoid any responsibility for the death of Vincent Canzani. However, he did not choice this path. Instead, roughly half way through the video, Matthew’s face finally becomes un-blurred, revealing the true person that was accountable for the fatal accident. With the conclusion of the video, Matthew begged whomever that is watching the video to not make the same mistakes that he made. Even though it was too late to take back his careless actions, it is not too late for another individual to evade a tragic incident that can be easily avoided.

-Maurice Studer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRiHSaIQ8oQ

SHAMRIN HASAN.

Everyone who knows me, or at least knows of me, knows one thing: I am a social butterfly. I can go up to anyone and spark a full blown conversation. I don’t hesitate to speak to people I don’t know. I love meeting people and conversing with people. I am just that  person. However, my hear will drop to my stomach at the thought of giving a speech or presentation. I would really would love to get rid of this fear of mine. It’s so contradictory to my personality. I love speaking and being heard, but when I’m put in a situation where I’m going to be graded and criticized, I can’t do it. Every presentation I’ve given in high school, I have been petrified. I start playing with my hair, my voice starts shaking, and I refuse to make eye contact with anyone. I would really like to most past this because it’s simply not professional, and it definitely won’t get me an A in this class.

Everyone who knows me also knows that I am J. Cole’s number one, die hard fan. For those of you that don’t know, he is a main stream rapper. A phrase that people commonly associate him with is “cole world” – hence the title to this. His music is my biggest inspiration and I’ve watched through his interviews, performances, and speeches over and over again. He is just such a motivational person in my eyes. The link I put up is part of a speech he gave at Harvard. I want to be the speaker he is in that video. It’s like once he’s up speaking, he doesn’t have a single worry. He just speaks and connects with his audience. All through out the speech, J. Cole is calm, smiling, looking around, using his hands, and making his audience laugh. Now that is the type of speaker I am looking forward to becoming.