Global Communication and International Relations and Cooperation
Senior 6 · General and Religious Studies
Global Communication and International Relations and Cooperation
Lesson 1 of 3
24 min
On 19 November 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War, a cemetery for soldiers killed in the Battle of Gettysburg was dedicated in Pennsylvania. The main speaker, the famous orator Edward Everett, spoke for about two hours. President Abraham Lincoln, invited to add "a few appropriate remarks", then spoke for about two minutes: some 270 words. Everett's speech is almost forgotten. Lincoln's is one of the most quoted speeches in the English language, and its closing words, "government of the people, by the people, for the people", have entered the constitutions and textbooks of many countries.
Why did the short speech succeed? Not because it was short, but because every element of it was chosen for its purpose, its audience and its occasion. This lesson takes a public speech apart to see those elements.
Important
Source A: the Gettysburg Address (Bliss copy), Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863
[1] "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
[2] Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
[3] But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Definition
Public speech: a prepared, structured talk given by one person to an audience for a purpose: to inform, to persuade, to inspire or to mark an occasion.
Audience: the people a speech is addressed to; their age, knowledge, values and mood should shape every choice the speaker makes.
Channel: the means by which the message travels: voice, body language, visual aids, microphone, radio, television or the internet.
Feedback: the audience's response, such as applause, questions, nods or silence, which tells the speaker how the message is being received.
Noise: anything that interferes with the message, whether physical (a loud generator), physiological (hunger, fatigue) or semantic (words the audience does not understand).
Rhetorical appeals: the three ways a speaker persuades, named by the Greek philosopher Aristotle: ethos (the speaker's credibility), pathos (the audience's emotions) and logos (reasoning and evidence).
Every public speech is an act of communication with the same elements. Figure 1 shows how they fit together.
| Part | Its job | In Source A |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Win attention, connect with the audience, state the subject | Paragraph 1 goes back 87 years ("four score and seven") to the founding of the nation and its central idea, equality. |
| Body | Develop the main points in a clear order, with evidence and transitions | Paragraph 2 brings the audience to the present: the war, the battlefield, the purpose of the day. |
| Conclusion | Sum up, move the audience, and call it to act | Paragraph 3 turns from the dead to the living and ends with a call: "that we here highly resolve..." |
Lincoln's speech follows time: past (the founding), present (the war and the cemetery), future ("a new birth of freedom"). That simple order makes it easy to follow by ear. He also uses the three appeals:
Notice his use of repetition in threes ("we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow"; "of the people, by the people, for the people"). Listeners cannot reread a sentence; patterns help them remember.
Warning
A speech is not an essay read aloud. Long sentences, rare words and many figures that work on paper get lost when heard. Speak in shorter sentences, repeat key ideas, and signpost the structure ("First... Second... Finally...").
Tip
Plan with P-A-O. Before writing a speech, write down its Purpose (what should the audience think, feel or do at the end?), its Audience (who are they, what do they know?) and its Occasion (where, when, how long?). Every later choice should serve these three.
Important
Discuss. In April each year, Rwandans gather for Kwibuka, the commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, and speeches are given in every community. What would the purpose, audience and occasion require of such a speech? Which elements of Lincoln's speech at a cemetery would also be fitting, and which would not?
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: Figure 1, the table, the analysis and the exercises.
