Eastwood/Ellen

    The speech I found most effective so far in the course was Ellen’s opening speech at the post-9/11 Emmys. The audience included the entertainers attending the event, but also extended to all Americans watching at home. I believe this speech was so effective because she brought humor and comfort to a very sensitive situation. The Emmy’s premiered shortly after the September 11th attacks, so at a time when people are still scared and feel unsafe. Ellen addressed the sorrow in the room and the pain everyone was feeling while still being entertaining as the opening of award shows traditionally are. In my opinion, considering the time sensitive issues of the speech and the normal humor surrounding it, Ellen provided the audience with just what they needed: feelings of comfort and respect by acknowledging the moment as well as a distraction and sense of entertainment. I believe the balance between humor and sorrow was fairly accurate throughout the speech, but some more light-heartedness could have been added. These speeches are usually crude and it is clear that this specific speech should not have had those elements, but I do believe that Ellen could have had a little more fun with the entertainers in the crowd. Overall, however, by addressing the issues at hand as well as making the audience relax and laugh, this speech by Ellen was very effective.
    The speech I found least effective was Clint Eastwood’s Republican National Convention speech. The audience for this was definitely extended outside of just those attending the convention. Clint Eastwood is a very prominent man, so all people, no matter their political party, would have a desire to watch this. I think this speech was entertaining and somewhat effective, but after discussing the issues of it in class, I realized how much better it could have been. For example, he did not explain the importance of the empty chair and what it represented which would have been a great point. I believe this addition alone would have enhanced the speech an incredible amount. It was also evident that the speech was not well rehearsed because he would not complete all of his thoughts and made some statements that would have been very strong, but instead just sounded like rambling thoughts. The fact that he pointed out that there are 23 million unemployed Americans was definitely effective. This brought logos to the speech and allowed the audience to understand the intensity of the economic crisis. If Clint Eastwood would have had more facts like this and completed all of his thoughts, this speech could have been extremely effective.