Purposive Communication

How persuasive is Malala’s speech to you?

Malala Yousafzai is one among thousands who have appealed to the constant problematic
issues of poverty, education, and women's rights, and she has been one of the successful ones to be
heard. In her Nobel Peace Prize speech, she reiterated the importance of equality of human rights and
the necessity of universal education among children and women worldwide. Her address consisted of
narratives, requests, suggestions, assertions, and promises. Malala told the audience her story about the
terrorists' cruelty who banned girls from attending schools in her native town, and emphasized the
power of education that frightens them. The discussion topic implies that she is persuading big
organizations such as governments, communities, and world leaders to take real action to protect girls'
and children's human rights, including getting an education. Besides that, Malala also convinces
everyone to empower themselves with good education and stand by their rights as she believes that it is
the only solution to face the world. Malala tried to grab the audiences' attention by delivering an
impactful statement after extending her gratitude by saying, "This award is not just for me. It is for those
forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those
voiceless children who want change." She also tried to captivate them by telling a dramatic story, "When
I was ten, Swat, which was a place of beauty and tourism, suddenly changed into a place of terrorism.
More than 400 schools were destroyed. Girls were stopped from going to school. Women were flogged.
Innocent people were killed. We all suffered. And our beautiful dreams turned into nightmares." Malala
tried to include satisfaction and visualization of what she and the other girls she knew had experienced,
as one of the typical strategies in delivering a persuasive speech by building an empathic connection. In
satisfying the audience, she put up a solution on light and showed them how it would work. Malala says,
"The terrorists tried to stop us and attacked me and my friends on 9th October 2012, but their bullets
could not win. We survived. And since that day, our voices have only grown louder." This solution will
make more sense to the audiences by giving an envision of how it works, then Malala further says,
"People like to ask me why education is important especially for girls. My answer is always the same.
What I have learnt from the first two chapters of the Holy Quran, is the word Iqra, which means "read",
and the word, nun wal-qalam which means "by the pen". And, therefore as I said last year at the United
Nations, "One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world." By referring to the
aforementioned statement, the audiences will think that education clearly can be a good answer to the
problem. Even though the proposed solution caused Malala in trouble, the audiences may still believe
that education is the best weapon to fight against the uprising zealots. Lastly, a common persuasive
speech is not complete without a call to action of the current situation. "It is not time to tell the leaders
to realize how important education is, they already know it, their own children are in good schools. Now
it is time to call them to take action. We ask the world leaders to unite and make education their top
priority," she says. In the last few words of her speech, she encouraged the audience to fight along with
the things she believe is right and didn't hesitate to give hope to the people who are still experiencing
this inequality. Malala Yousafzai is an exceptional public speaker. She knew how much influence her
speech can reach, and she didn't waste time preparing and practicing it, which made it extra convincing.
It included many powerful lines and no extraneous information. It was not buried in facts, details, or
statistics and even encompassed a call to action. It was genuine, relevant, and inspiring. She didn't miss
the chance to make eye contact with the people and even maintained her delivery, pitch, and
enunciation throughout the speech. Every word she delivered lingers to the ears of the audience. The
speech was constructed to open the eyes of the people to the neglected ones. It is an advocacy to sway
the government to make them regard the issue brought upon and persuade the people and appeal to
their emotions, just as how moved and convinced I am by every line.