Dicussion 6

The success of a speech is often the beginning or the end. The introduction of a speech has to catch the audience’s attention. An audience will lose interest if the introduction does not capture their attention. A strong introduction will explain the speaker’s purpose. The purpose needs to be interesting. A little bit of suspense or surprise can also make an audience listen for the point. Instead of saying “ We are gathered here to promote X business”, an individual should say “ We are here to find lucrative opportunities.” Lucrative opportunities are vague, but make an audience more interested in finding out about the lucrative opportunities. Another good tactic is to use strong words. Lucrative is a strong word. These words help the speaker to deliver a powerful speech. All of these things help a speaker give a good introduction.
The speech chosen is Lyndon B. Johnson’s speech on March 26, 1965. This speech was chosen due to the impression left by Johnson during the speech. Johnson’s speeches were normally delivered in a monotone of seriousness. He would look at the camera directly, only glancing down occasionally at the paper before him. The speech on March 26, 1965 made an impression due to the emotion put into the speech. The video of this speech has been shown on the history channel, but after researching the Internet only an audio of the speech can be found. The link to the audio speech is http://millercenter. org/president/speeches/detail/5932. The speech was given due to the death of Viola Liuzzo’s murder by the KKK.
Johnson gave a strong introduction. He used strong words like ‘ historic’, ‘ brave’, ‘ achievements’, ‘ tragedy’, and ‘ stain’. Johnson grabbed the nation’s attention by stating his intention to talk about a ‘ tragedy and a stain’. This makes the audience want to continue listening to find out what tragedy that Johnson referred to. This speech grabs the nation’s attention with a mystery that would be revealed in the speech. This is a great speech due to subject matter, introduction, and expressive language.
Bibliography
History. com. (2013). Johnson on KKK murder of Civil Rights Worker. Accessed 25 Jun. 2013
from http://www. history. com/speeches/johnson-on-kkk-murder-of-civil-rights-worker#johnson-on-kkk-murder-of-civil-rights-worker