Noel Francis B.

Largo Speech 30
2019-00383 September 26, 2019

Speech Analysis of Barack Obama’s Keynote Address at the

2004 Democratic National Convention

Barack Obama wrote in his book, The Audacity of Hope, that his selection as keynote
address speaker remains as “something of a mystery” to him – the keynote address that brought
him to spotlight, that made him President, and that made him Obama. This paper examines
Barack Obama’s 'Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention' using Cicero’s
Five Canons of Rhetoric.

Firstly, inventio (invention) – this refers to “coming up with what to say”. The objective
of the keynote speech is to endorse the presidential campaign of John Kerry with his running
mate John Edwards to the people. Aside from this, another objective which is personal – is
Obama’s desire to “talk about his story as part of the American story”. These two objectives laid
the foundation of the themes of the speech: pride, unity, and hope. He remarked the theme of
pride by characterizing America as a magical country, a safe place, and a beacon of freedom and
opportunity; unity by stressing oneness in ‘e pluribus unum’ (out of many, one) and going
against divisiveness in races and partisanship; and hope by arguing that “there are better days
ahead” because of what Kerry and his party has to offer. Apart from these themes, a huge portion
of the speech includes Obama’s use of stories – from story of his family towards his
unforgettable encounters with different Americans. The use of the themes and story functioned
as one mean to achieve the said objectives.

Secondly, dispositio (arrangement) – this refers to the “arranging and organizing of the
material for maximum impact”. In general, the speech was delivered in two manners:
conventional and logical. It is conventional for following the introduction, body, and conclusion
structure making the speech easy to follow. Before delivering the speech, Obama was not known
by the people at all – therefore, he began the speech by establishing a common ground with
them. He managed to do so by sharing his same American dream and also the story of his
grandfather who made use of the GI bill being a war veteran. Despite difference in race, the GI
bill story ascertained that Obama was no different from the majority of the audience. Afterwards,
he began telling how great America is. This served as the key for the audience to be more drawn
in and more prompt to listen. Gathering the attention through a positive context, he shifted to an
opposite topic. Obama presented that there are more work to do in America as he shared
anecdotes of a worker losing his union job and a student unable to go to college because of
financial problems. This created the perfect moment to introduce the party of Kerry. Obama
emphasized how Kerry and his party are capable of implementing policies that are for the
people’s welfare. Finally, Obama ended by using the concept of ‘hope’ – that there is hope for
everyone and that “out of the long political darkness, a brighter day will come”. It is well-
planned seeing how the speech is sequenced in a way that a topic transitions smoothly to a
different topic because they are connected and relevant to each other. Meanwhile, in the logical
manner, the arrangement of the speech was arranged in a way that Obama is hard to disagree
with. This can be observed in the part where Obama discusses the Republicans and Democrats;
that there are Republicans who share similar ideologies with the Democrats and vice versa.
Moreover, there were signs of indirect opposition or attacks against the other party such as
Obama’s hinting of the 2000 Election Fraud in Florida in one part.

Thirdly, elocutio (style) – this refers to “presenting ideas”. Obama utilized numerous
rhetorical devices that complemented the well-written text of the speech. It became effective,
engaging, and appealing to the audience. The stories and anecdotes that Obama used is one of
these rhetorical devices; and, it became more effective with his talent in describing the scenarios
creating imagery for the listeners. Also, the speech oozes patriotism and power in numerous parts
like how he said: “I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative
America; there’s the United States of America.” This does not only employ a simple repetition
but antithesis – repetition to show contrast. Moreover, the audiences are continuously engaged in
the speech by getting them to think by asking rhetorical questions. Obama was also deliberately
letting them feel inclusivity through his use of the first-person pronoun ‘we’. Lastly, it is
appealing through the use of ethos and pathos: ethos by establishing that he knows Kerry’s
credibility by providing an overview of Kerry’s experiences and background and logos by
evoking sadness through the use of more anecdotes.

Fourth, memoria (memory) – this refers to “committing text to memory”. Obama spoke
for a total of 17 minutes; whereas, throughout this entire duration, there seemed to be no moment
where Obama have forgotten what he wanted to say. His mastery of his speech remained
prevalent even after being interrupted for 33 times by the applauses of the audience. Personally,
his mastery of the speech is like an indication of his knowledge and truthfulness to what he is
saying. This reinforced more the connection Obama created between him and the audience.

Lastly, is actio and pronuntiato (delivery) – this refers to “delivering speech using
gestures, pronunciation, and tone of voice”. Obama is not reserved in using his hands while
delivering his speech. In fact, the gestures of his hands are related to what he is trying to convey.
His finger pointing makes a feeling that he is talking to you – which again creates a connection.
He also makes use his hands if he wants to put emphasis on important points. He is also
consistent in maintaining eye-contact not only to the people present in the Democratic
Convention but also to the people watching the live broadcast. Moreover, Obama likely
considered the use of proper pitch, volume, and pacing. For example, Obama asked “if you feel
this way as I do” multiple times in a very fast pace; wherein, the device of repetition might lose
its effectiveness if not delivered in such manner. The delivery of Obama makes the audience
view him as very genuine and very passionate.

Altogether, just as people have said, people can forget what you said in the speech but not
what you made them feel. This speech evoked great feelings that even up to this date, the praise
for the speech continues and the video is returned back to by the people. This is the effect of
Obama’s deliberate or unintentional use of Cicero’s canons. Henceforth, one could learn a thing
or two on how consideration of: inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, actio and pronuntiato
could greatly help in developing one’s speech.

References:
McKay, K. (2011, January 26). Classical Rhetoric 101: The five canons of rhetoric. Retrieved from
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/classical-rhetoric-101-the-five-canons-of-rhetoric-
invention/

Obama, B. (2004). Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
[Transcript]. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/barack-obamas-keynote-
address-at-the-2004-democratic-national-convention

Said, T. (2016, March 22). The speech that made Obama president. Retrieved from
https://www.publicspeakingforlife.com.au/2016/03/22/the-speech-that-made-obama-president/

Tavares, J.P (2016, September 12). Obama 2004 DNC keynote speech. Retrieved from
https://prezi.com/7fesvhn3pwwx/obama-2004-dnc-keynote-speech/