HOW TO ANALYZE AND CRITIQUE A SPEECH..:

This article has been reproduced (with slight modifications, in parts), from www.sixminutes.dlugan.com with prior permission. Students can access the original article HERE. We sincerely thank Andrew Dlugan for giving his consent in quoting from his post. Thanks Andrew once again!

Studying other speakers is a critical skill, and quite an essential skill for a public speaker. The ability to analyze a speech will accelerate the growth of any speaker.

The Most Important Thing to Analyze: The Speech Objectives:
Knowing the speaker’s objective is critical to analyzing the speech, and should certainly influence how you study it.
 What is the speaker’s goal? Is it to educate, to motivate, to persuade, or to entertain?
 What is the primary message being delivered?
 Why is this person delivering this speech? Is he/she the right person?

The Audience and Context for the Speech:
A speaker will need to use different techniques to connect with an audience of 1500 than they would with an audience of 15. Similarly, different techniques will be applied when communicating with teenagers as opposed to communicating with corporate leaders.
 Where and when is the speech being delivered?
 What are the key demographic features of the audience? Technical? Students? Elderly? Athletes? Business leaders?
 How large is the audience?
 In addition to the live audience, is there an external target audience? (e.g. on the Internet or mass media)

Speech Content and Structure:
The content of the speech should be selected and organized to achieve the primary speech objective. Focus is important — extraneous information can weaken an otherwise effective argument.

The Speech Opening:
Due to the primacy effect, words, body language, and visuals in the speech opening are all critical to speaking success.
 Was a hook used effectively to draw the audience into the speech? Or did the speaker open with a dry “It’s great to be here today.“
 Did the speech open with a story? A joke? A startling statistic? A controversial statement? A powerful visual?
 Did the speech opening clearly establish the intent of the presentation?
 Was the opening memorable?

The Speech Body:
 Was the presentation focussed? i.e. Did all arguments, stories, anecdotes relate back to the primary objective?
 Were examples or statistics provided to support the arguments?
 Were metaphors and symbolism use to improve understanding?
 Was the speech organized logically? Was it easy to follow?
 Did the speaker bridge smoothly from one part of the presentation to the next?

The Speech Conclusion:
Like the opening, the concluding remarks are also quite critical to speaking success.
 Was the conclusion concise?
 Was the conclusion memorable?
 If appropriate, was there a call-to-action?

Delivery Skills and Techniques:
Delivery skills are like a gigantic toolbox — the best speakers know precisely when to use every tool and for what purpose.

Enthusiasm and Connection to the Audience:
 Was the speaker enthusiastic? How can you tell?
 Was there audience interaction? Was it effective?
 Was the message you- and we-focussed, or was it I- and me-focussed?

Humor:
 Was humor used?
 Was it safe and appropriate given the audience?
 Were appropriate pauses used before and after the punch lines, phrases, or words?
 Was it relevant to the speech?

Language:
 Was the language appropriate for the audience?
 Did the speaker articulate clearly?
 Were sentences short and easy to understand?
 Was technical jargon or unnecessarily complex language used?
 What rhetorical devices were used? e.g. repetition, alliteration, etc.

Intangibles:
Sometimes, a technically sound speech can still miss the mark. Likewise, technical deficiencies can sometimes be overcome to produce a must-see presentation. The intangibles are impossible to list, but here are a few questions to consider:
 How did the speech make you feel?
 Were you convinced?
 Would you want to listen to this speaker again?
 Were there any original ideas or techniques?