Report Card

Writing: C+
Clarity: C-
Efficiency: B
Elegance: C+

Delivery: A-
Pacing: C+
Intonation: B
Body Language: A-
Passion: A

The praise for Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s delivery of her speech has been nothing short of amazing – even MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann admitted that Palin “clearly gives a great speech.” Even the content drew praise from Democrats to the extent that they [...]

Michael Long over at Ragan.com has a nice piece on the technical aspects of Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. He hits the nail on the head when he says:
the language and content overall were remarkably unsophisticated for such an auspicious evening. This was of a piece with a serious language problem.
And he had an example [...]

Report Card

Writing: C+
Clarity: C
Efficiency: C+
Elegance: B-

Delivery: A-
Pacing: B-
Intonation: B+
Body Language: A
Passion: A

There’s been a lot of praise for Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic Convention, with commentators like Andrew Sullivan calling it “a deeply substantive speech,” and celebrities like Oprah describing the night as “something that was transcendent.”
UPDATE: Gallup Poll of Aug. 30: [...]

Story-telling played a major role in Barack Obama’s acceptance speech in Denver last night – from the introductory video to the numerous references throughout the speech both to his own story and those of ordinary Americans. One particularly effective use of story came when he drew parallels between the stories of others and his [...]

It’s the line everyone’s talking about from Bill Clinton’s speech to the Democratic Convention last night, and a very powerful aphorism it is:
People around the world have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.
It’s simple, easy to remember, and nicely encapsulates what Clinton wanted to [...]