What makes Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech a great speech, not
from a historical context, but from a technical standpoint? What can we
as Toastmasters learn to make our own speeches memorable?
Anaphora is a rhetorical device where words are repeated in successive
sentences. Dr. King repeats “I have a dream” in eight consecutive
sentences. He also repeats phrases such as “one hundred years later” and
“Now is the time.”
Repeat key theme words throughout your speech. Dr. King repeats Freedom
twenty times, We thirty times, Nation ten times, and America or American nine
times.
Use quotations and allusions to increase credibility. Instead of saying
“One hundred years ago” Dr. King says “five score years ago,” alluding to the
Gettysburg address. He also refers several times to the Bible, the
Declaration of Independence and the song My Country ‘Tis of Thee.
Use specific examples to ground your arguments. Dr. King mentions several
states by name, including Mississippi four times. He also uses phrases
such as “slums and ghettos” and “villages and hamlets” to make his message more
inclusive.
Dr. King uses wonderful imagery as metaphors to highlight concepts.
Phrases such as “Joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” and
“Transform the jangling discourse of our nation into a beautiful symphony of
brotherhood” paint pictures in the mind of the audience.
Analyzing history’s great speeches can be a valuable resource for Toastmasters
to improve their own speeches.
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