Jimmy Valvano Takes Down Clint Eastwood

I have found that the speech by Jimmy Valvano was the most effective and the speech by Clint Eastwood was the least effective so far in this course.

I will start with Jimmy Valvano’s 1993 ESPY speech. First of all this speech held my attention the entire time, which can be difficult sometimes because most people’s thoughts probably wander at least once during speeches. The speech moves me greatly and that is the point of a speech. Jimmy is able to keep the speech on everyone’s level and gives advice that everyone should take no matter what his or her situation is. He is able to work in some laughter and get serious while relating to the audience. The audience he is addressing is consists of coaches, players, fans and anyone else watching the awards ceremony on TV and he has just received the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. This speech succeeded in motivating people in life, his memorable quote was, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up,” which was also the motto of his cancer research foundation, Jimmy V Foundation. He had a simple message of enjoying life and it came across crystal clear.

Clint Eastwood’s speech was not high on my list. He was the mystery speaker at the Democratic National Convention, which caused much excitement. The idea to bring Clint Eastwood in, with his clout and make it unknown drew many people in. Clint was addressing overall the Republican Party at the Republican National Convention, but that includes other politicians, everyday people there and watching on TV and even the Democratic Party. He was able to make some good points in his speech and at points was able to mock the opposing party without completely bashing. What I did not like was how he was not very clear sometimes. Even without the chair fiasco I was having trouble following him throughout the speech. In regard to the chair, I feel that it should not have been included or it should have been rehearsed many more times. Overall I did not feel that the speech was effective, I came out feeling more confused than convinced.