Many of you are aware that throughout your High School education you will have to present a speech whether in English or in your other subjects. I personally hate speeches as I am a very shy person but what can you do about it? Well, we can learn from the experts in this field whose speeches were given many years ago but their voices still linger today.

So why does it still have an impact today? It is because of their abilities to express a distinctive voice throughout their speeches. What is a distinctive voice? How are great ideas communicated? What do you want your audience to think, feel, act or do? I am here to tell you all these things so listen up as I try to convince you that effective speeches require a distinctive voice. I will explore the effects of distinctive voices in Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech, John.F.Kennedy’s Inaugural address and Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural address.

Passion is a fundamental aspect of speeches and it comes through the sustained use language techniques, which Martin Luther King Jr explored in his ‘I have a dream’ speech. MLKJ was a passionate leader and a civil rights activist who pushed for racial equality in America in 1963.King’s lavish use of metaphors such as ‘America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked insufficient funds’ which signifies how America has overlooked the Negros, is a clear representation of how distinctive voices need great ideas.

One of the key ideas King proposed was racial discrimination for instance ‘the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land’ portrays the white people’s disclaim towards the Negros.Another strong metaphor are ‘slaves’ for example,’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood’.’ Slaves’ implies injustice and is a highly evocative word for both black and white people. Slave-owners were white and ‘black and white’ are thus bought together. Hence,’ red’ hints at blood, implying the pain, struggle and injustice the Negros suffered.

King’s preaching voice confirms he was a Baptist minister and is reflected in biblical allusions such as ‘Let us seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness’ which evokes Jeremiah 2:15 and represents a heartbreaking voice of Negros in despair. His persuasiveness further helped change the nation’s racial landscape for the better and motivated the audience to act or change their attitude. His preaching and passionate voice along with the use of language techniques portrays how great ideas need great voices.

I’m sure many of you have heard candidates presenting Inaugural addresses after elections. Have you heard of John.f.Kennedy’s Inaugural address? J.F.K was the youngest man elected US president and the first Roman Catholic president. The voice that is evident in his speech is a hopeful voice of a political leader striving for peace which is highlighted in metaphors such as ‘tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace’, which represents the Cold war. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of poverty and all forms of human life’ is another compelling metaphor which demonstrates that we can eradicate poverty but we can also take away life.

JFK’s inclusive language such as ‘we’ is fascinating because he is including all Americans in his belief. Emotive language such as ‘we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty’ appeals to the audiences’ emotions and helps to achieve his aim for freedom and human rights. Rhetorical questions such as ‘Will you join in that historic effort?’ leaves the audience thinking whether they will adhere to forging against enemies and combat for peace and freedom. Can you see how his great ideas shine because of his passionate voice, inclusive language, and language techniques?

Most of you have probably heard of the famous name ‘Nelson Mandela’. Mandela was the first black president of South Africa who got rid of apartheid and helped end legal racial segregation in his nation. His Inaugural address can be described as a motivational, persuasive and inspirational speech. It represents the voice of a visionary and an enthusiastic leader as seen in metaphors like such as ‘the depth of the pain we all carried in our hearts as we saw our country tear itself apart in a terrible conflict’ which refers to the anguish they endured through the apartheid system.’

His passion and courage embodied a distinctive voice that exclaims their rights for freedom, justice and peace which is highlighted in metaphors like ‘valley of darkness’, which refers to the desolation they lived in, and ‘blood-thirsty forces who still refuse to see the light’.

Mandela found success because he was able to make people want him to win, engage their emotions and involve them in his endeavours and make it their own.
Parallelisms such as ‘the time for the healing of wounds has come the moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come the time to build is upon us’
God bless Africa!’ portrays their progress into a new beginning and shows he has found a way to dig deep into South Africans hearts. Emotive language such as ‘We shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without fear in their hearts’ is very touching and is similar to King’s dream where ‘little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white girls and white boys. His charisma, self-depreciating sense of humour and lack of bitterness over his harsh treatment as well as the use of native tongue within the speech makes it powerful and relevant to historic occasion. These qualities shaped his meanings and reflected a distinguished voice. Now are you convinced that effective speeches require a distinctive voice?
You should now have a broader understanding of how ‘great ideas need great voices’. Without a passionate, courageous, confident and a distinctive voice, your speech will not be very effective in portraying your key ideas and accomplishing success. Ideas shape the course of history and a distinctive voice is the root of great ideas. These ‘great speaker’ with ‘great voices’ have changed the universe by inspiring people’ so never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. I therefore challenge you to participate in this process whenever you say a speech because who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be an effective leader like Mandela, Kennedy or King or you can participate in creating change to make the world a better place.