9/11 and TED Earth Talk

Of the videos we have watched in class thus far I found George W. Bush's 9/11 speech to be the most effective.  It was such a critical time in our nation's history, a turning point, so to speak.  It had been a long day.  America needed to hear from its leader.  Bush's ethos is almost impeccable.  We must remember that the events of 9/11 came very early in the Bush administration, long before Iraq and the economy went south.  Logos is also evident in the speech.  Bush has a plan of reaction and retaliation and it makes sense.  The nation's emotions are shaky after this day and Bush understands that.  He is comforting and doing his best to connect with hurting country and understand what those who have been effected are going through.  The one negative in this speech is Bush's robotic-like delivery.  All presidents read from a teleprompter but something about his delivery and its almost near perfection detracted from its overall effectiveness.  Those in his voice you could hear his authenticity, Bush's stone-like face came across as a negative.

The video I found least effective was the TED Earth talk.  I don't remember the speaker's name but I didn't know who he was to begin with.  One weakness I find in all TED talks is a lack of ethos across the board.  If audiences do not know who they are listening to what makes them listen or pay attention?  The audience present at the presentation may know who he is but those listening later on may have no idea.  The context of the presentation is unclear but I imagine the event had a scientific spin to it.  The speaker lost me right from the start.  His opening illustration of the egg made little to no sense.  As he continued on he never really tied the egg back into his main topic.  With a topic as controversial as the one this speaker was discussing it would be a good idea to give your audience a reason to listen to a belief that you did not agree with.  This was lacking.  I knew what the guy stood for, I disagreed with it, and he gave me no other reason to listen.  The one strength of the presentation was the visual aspect. I have never seen visuals like that.  The animation was one of the few things that kept me interested, just to see where the speaker was going next.