Public Speaking example

For me, the best example of "public speaking" would be Martin Luther King Juniors "I have a dream" speech in Washington D.C. This was a speech given during the civil rights movement led by king in an attempt to end the racism being shown towards African Americans and other minorities in the country during the 50's and 60's. This speech did meet the requirements of "public speaking" in the fact that it was in front of a very large crowd in the public setting of a civil rights rally. King used this speech to try and create an image of a society without racism and convey this image to the people. The speech was definitely appropriate for the occasion because it dealt with the major issue of the time period and the people present wanted to hear kings' vision. Kings' vision was one of a unified society where all races can coexist equally. In his speech, king repeated the phrase "I have a dream" in order to convey his vision. He wanted to see the racism end not only for his generation but for his children and every generation after so they could grow up in a country without racism. I feel this was a very effective speech. King knew that the majority of the audience supported him so his speech did not focus on swaying opinions as much as it focused on reminding his supporters why they started the fight and what they were fighting for. This kept the audience interested. When presenting his vision, he used examples that the audience knew and could easily relate to and connect with. This created a stronger reaction to his message and allowed the audience to feel the emotion being conveyed. Overall I feel this was a perfect example of "public speaking".