Writing a speech analysis

Writing a speech analysis means analysing a speech for WHAT is said and HOW it is said.

Writing a speech analysis

WHAT – What was said is analysed according to the familiar procedure of text analysis, conversation analysis, dialogue analysis.

HOW – How something was said is an additional consideration of who says something and how it is said, because in speeches, important messages can also be sent through appearance and behaviour. And as Paul Arden put it to the point by saying: „Don’t make a speech, put on a show.“ a speech is more than words. It’s a show.

To get an idea and powerful evidence of the impact that appearance has on the message, watch this video by Cameron Russel: „Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model„, one of the most watched TED Talks ever.

Writing a speech analysis – Checklist

Who is speaking to whom?

Who is speaking?

Boss
Political Leader
Parent, husband, child,
Club president
Expert on a specific subject

Appearance of the speaker

What does the speaker look like?
How is he dressed?
What posture does he adopt?

Behaviour of the speaker

Does the speaker use gestures?
What is his voice like?
How does he move?

To whom is (s)he speaking?

Family
Experts
Employees, colleagues
Club members

What is said and why

What is the occasion of the speech?

Conference
Political event
Family event (birthday, wedding, funeral service, …)
Professional event
Association, Club

What is the topic?

What is the speech about?
Is the topic clear?
Does the speech refer to something that happened earlier?

What is the intention and purpose of the speech?

To explain something
To update the audience on something
To review something
To give an opinion
To argue something

How is the speech held?

Structure

Introduction: how was the speech started? With an example, a quote, a question, a general statement, a personal experience, a current event, hypothesis, joke, thesis, …
Main: how was the main part constructed? With arguments, counter-arguments, examples, personal experiences, scientific evidences like facts and figures, prom proofs, mental constructs, thoughts, prominent quotes as proof, …
Conclusion and finish: how was the speech finished? With a request, petition, question, …

Style and tonality

Are stylistic devices used? Metaphors, repetitions, scientific quotations, citations, …
Was a particular language or expression used? Technical terms, scientific expressions, youth language, …

Evaluation: Does the speech have an impact?

Is the speech successful?
Does the message get across?
Are the listeners convinced?
Is the speech effective?
Do the listeners react as the speaker intended?

Examples

Example of a Speech Analysis Hillary Clinton – Klasse 12 – (Note 1+)

Example of a Speech Analysis Trump Klasse 10 (Note 2+)

Another example of a speech analysis: here about “Barack Obama’s New Hampshire Primary Speech”

Formulations for writing a speech analysis

Introduction

„NAME OF THE SPEAKER“ introduces the topic of his speech by
… aims to grab the audience’s attention with …

Main part

… draws a historical parallel to
… provides examples of / from
… proves the necessity to / of
… uses the evidence of …to justify
… claims that …
… acknowledges
… refers to …
… uses STYLISTIC MEANS of … to …
… frequent use of STYLISTIC MEANS, such as EXAMPLE, gives the audience the feeling that ….
… emphasises the importance of his words by using STYLISTIC MEANS
… admits that ….
… focuses his argument on the fact that …
… emphasises the point that … ….
… asks his audience to …
… emphasises the point ….
… argues that
… cities …
by referring to …. he tries to attract the attention of the audience
by stating that … he tries to emphasise the importance of … to emphasise
by pointing out
by quoting … THE SPEAKER stresses that …
by citing …. THE SPEAKER proofs
by developing his argument step by step by …

Conclusion

THE SPEAKER concludes the speech by …
All in all, THE SPEAKER clearly states his aims and expectations …
I would like to point out that THE SPEAKERs use of
With his … appearance THE SPEAKERS persuaded, convinced, questioned, …
in the final conclusion, the previous argumentation is summarised

More about writing English texts

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