Famous Speeches in History & Effective Elements

1. Martin Luther King Jr's, "I Have a Dream"
2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy's, "Inaugural Address"
3. Dwight David Eisenhower's, "Farewell Address"
4. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton's, "Women's Rights are Human Rights"
5. John Fitzgerald Kennedy's, "Civil Rights Address"

All of these speeches have been recognized and remembered because they all obtain one thing: the essential effective elements to writing a well constructed, inspiring, and moving speech. Elements such as incorporating a well known song such as 'Let Freedom Ring' in MLK's "I Have a Dream" enables Martin Luther to be able to connect with his audience with the familiarity of a song, and also let it help to drive his point home. By grabbing the attention of the audience right away, it is a good idea to have a strong opening statement, one possibly with a hook or one that evokes thought or poses a question. This way the audience is already interested to see where the speech will go or is curious as to what you will have to say next. Repetition sometimes is a good tool to use to continuously drive home your main point or interest of emphasis. All of theses speeches were delivered magnificently because they felt confident giving them, they were well prepared and rehearsed, and felt strongly towards the topic of the speech. By having pauses in ones speech, it allows the audience to have a moment to think about something that was just said, or reflect on a question that you had just asked. By asking questions, the audience is able to be more involved in the speech and feel as though you are talking to just them, not a full crowd. One essential element to knowing a good speech, is if you feel as though the person is talking just to you. This is because they are able to evoke emotion, and connect to everyone regardless of the topic, they made an impact on you individually. Overall, if a speech is able to evoke emotion, inspires you to change, or want to help a movement then the speaker has successfully delivered a speech and made an impact, just as the above individuals had done in their history changing speeches.