Posted on 02/16/2008 6:37:19 AM PST by vietvet67
After studying the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, linguist Mark Liberman found that their speaking styles are “radically different.”
Then there’s Barack Obama.
His keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention instantly earned him a reputation as one of the Democratic Party’s great contemporary orators. And that reputation has only been further hyped since the beginning of the presidential campaign, most recently because of the wildly popular music video, “Yes We Can,” which set to music Obama’s primary night speech in New Hampshire. The video, created by Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am, was released on Feb. 2 and has been viewed almost 10 million times on YouTube and yeswecansong.com.
Liberman, a linguistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks the most distinctive thing about Obama’s speeches isn’t the delivery, but the lyricism in the writing.
“You can take a short phrase like that, spoken any kind of way as long as it’s not dragged out, and sing over it,” he said. “There’s also a certain amount of repetition — the ‘Yes We Can’ theme — that allows this kind of weaving of vocal lines. But if that’s right, then what’s really musical about that speech was not so much its delivery, but its composition. It was written like a song, but not performed like a song.”
Linguist Geoff Nunberg, too, sees elements of Obama’s speeches that he says lend themselves to song.
“He does these parallel constructions,” said Nunberg, a researcher at Stanford University’s Center for the Study of Language and Information. “For example, he says, ‘It’s not because of this, it’s not because of that.’”
(Excerpt) Read more at observer.com ...
Actually, it was the battle cry for Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers way back in 1972. As soon as I heard Obama chant, "Yes, we can", I knew he had just translated it from "Si, se puede".
Good speaker that says nothing.
It’s not his voice, it’s the constant motion of his hands...
he’s either hypnotizing or casting a spell!!!!!!!!!!
“”He fumbles and hims and haws all the time.
He is not a good speaker.”
His speaking irritates me no end because he does exactly as you say - he pauses, he hesitates. I have to say that someone has been working on him as he’s gotten better compared to 6 months ago but still irritating to listen to. I’m not buying the “great orator” that the MSM is peddling.
If Obama weren’t a politician by trade he would be selling sleazy get rich real estate schemes on TV between the hours of 0200-0500 everyday. He’s the Billy Mays of campaigning.
The true mark of a good speaker is one who can deliver an impassioned or thoughtful speech extemporaneously. Obambi speaks well when he has the teleprompter or if he stays on script with soundbites. Aside from that, he’s a poor speaker.
Absolutely spot on. That's why I no longer dismiss him as an empty suit. IMHO, this illusion is no more a singular function of Obama's "charisma" than David Copperfield's feats are solely a product of talent. I'm less concerned about Obama's current stage crew than I am with the ones who conceived the illusion to begin with.
He “sounds” relatively black for having been raised in a white family. Is he faking his “black” accent?
He running against McCain, who is instinctively repugnant to 90 percent of the population.
Old, pushy, and arrogant, with a solid reputation for backstabbing. Like a brown nosing kid who rats out on his friends to get the pat on the head and gain favor. Repugnant.
It's all about who he is speaking to. His crowds remind me of WWE fans who show each week to chant along with their favorite wrestlers catch phrases. His speeches do nothing for me because I am not interested in any of his change. I understand all his change comes with a price, which is loss of freedom and higher taxes.
Today, we never elect FDR because of his handicap. Today, style trumps substance. Today, Obama is seen as great communicator no matter what he says.
We all want “what” he says to matter, but right now it doesn’t. Hopefully, it will by election day.
As my own aside, all of this is compounded by the fact that President Bush often communicates very poorly, no matter how well his speeches are written. He would be measurably more well regarded if he had half the skill as his predecessor or Obama.
We may not like the fact that oratory seemingly trumps substance, but for the electorate writ large, it is beginning to do so.
Think about his keywords. Change. Heal the nation. Repair this world. Stop the divisiveness. Bring America together.
Does anyone think that change involves a swing to the right? Does anyone think that healing the nation and repairing this world involves anything other than apologizing to the enemy and sucking up to them? If we end the divisiveness, does anyone think that the left is going to change their positions and come over to our side? No.
The whole change/healing/repairing fantasy is that WE change our positions and come over to their side. And we're not going to do that.
Perhaps another great orator, Bill Clinton, had it right when he said that Obama was the "greatest fairy tale" he ever heard. Even a Clinton is right twice a day.
I enjoy hearing Obama speak, but he can't do what he says. He can, however, screw up this country with the willing aid of a Democratic Senate and House.
The same thing that makes rubbish be called art.
I agree and George Bush is the “worst president ever” because the MSM says he is. I even know Republicans who are beginning to believe it.
“He “sounds” relatively black for having been raised in a white family. Is he faking his “black” accent?”
Only to the extent necessary for the audience to visualize him being the second coming of MLK.
It’s easy to be a good speaker when you are preaching to your own choir.
Sanjaya, anyone?
Rush was right.
Obama is as empty as the pop culture he appeals to. He knows his audience. But take heart. Once he is in the White House, his messiah routine won’t be enough. When unemployment hits 10 percent, interest rates and inflation go over 20 percent, and people are waiting in long lines to by gas on their appointed days, they will realize that Obama doesn’t have anything of value to say. Get ready.
Both MLK and JFK were inspirational speakers. There's nothing wrong with that if they are trying to inspire people to do good things. With JFK that may be his main positive legacy, inspiring people--otherwise he was a mediocre President whose weak foreign policy created a lot of problems for the future.
Obama may do some good if he moves the country away from the hyperpartisanship of recent years, but I'm not sure he really wants to. Rather he wants to be seen to want to. He'd be happy to leave 30 or 40% of the nation in the outer darkness as long as he himself was perceived as inclusive and rising above hatred.
Obama may be a bit like JFK in eloquence, but he may also be like him in his potential for screwing up foreign policy problems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.