Analysis of President Obama’s Speech in Cairo, Egypt

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President Obama’s speech, given on June 4, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt, was a current event everyone who lives in the U.S. should be aware of considering almost all of us as a nation were affected by the events of September 11th, 2001. Obama’s speech was fantastic in many ways, but especially because someone with little to no political knowledge could understand the message clearly. His points were apparent and presented eloquently. The reasons the talk was so effective and listenable is directly related to who and where he spoke, the simple yet extremely efficient structure, the support content of the speech, and the delivery method tied to his language used. Obama’s Cairo speech shows his high level of listenability. Listenability is a term that might be somewhat confusing when first seen or heard. One may think that it can mean the ability to listen, but this word means be the reverse. One way to view the difference is that the audience listens while the presenter creates a listenable speech. In order for most people to be interested in what someone has to say, there must be some level of the conversation between the audience and the speaker that contains listenability. When speaking, the focus should be on the audience, not the speaker. The main difference between a good public speech and a great speech is when the communication is listener-centered (O’Brien 20). One way to create a listenable speech is by analyzing the audience. This is a piece of the Strategy keys according to O’Brien. She refers to this set of keys as if it were the brains of the speech. Obama chose to speak at the University in Cairo for several reasons. First, Cairo is the capitol of Egypt and would be an obvious choice if someone wanted to grab the attention... ... middle of paper ... ...ld Make.” Guardian.co.uk. Guardian, 4 June 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. . O’Brien, Liz. A Speaker’s Resource - Listener-Centered Public Speaking. New York: McGraw, 2009. Print. Porter, Keith. “US Egypt Relations - Profile of US Egyptian Relationship.” About.com. The New York Times Co., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. . Reynolds, Paul. “Obama Speech: An Analysis.” News.bbc.co.uk. BBC, 4 June 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. . The White House - Office of the Press Secretary. “Remarks by the President on a New Beginning.” Remarks President Cairo University 6-04-09. The White House, 4 June 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2011. .

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