Valvano vs. Eastwood

The speech that I found most effective was the Jimmy Valvano speech. Although I had never heard of Valvano before watching this speech, I know I will never forget who he is after it was over. The target audience for this speech was sports enthusiasts who were tuning in to the ESPYs. The context of this speech was somewhat funny which turned very serious. The beginning of the speech was just him sharing personal stories that made the entire crowd die with laughter. Valvano poked fun at himself which led to everybody laughing together. The end of the speech is where he hit a homerun. Valvano mentioned him having cancer but how he was never giving up. He made the audience empathize with him and encouraged the audience to continue believing in him. The end of his speech is where Valvano was 100% effective. As I mentioned before, I knew nothing about him prior to this speech but his story about his battle with cancer made him really stand out to me. The only thing I thought could be criticized was how long winded he was. Although I thought his stories were interesting, they did last a little too long for me. Again, maybe that's because I didn't know who he was at first. Overall, I think his speech was extremely effective and I know for a fact that I will never forget that speech.

On the other hand, the speech I found to be the least effective was the speech Clint Eastwood gave at the Republican National Convention. As much as I like Eastwood, his speech just didn't quite convey the message I think he wanted it to. The target audience for this was Republicans all over the nation who were watching the convention. The context of this speech was a little off to me. The talking to the chair was a little childish to me. I know Eastwood was meaning to make a point and was poking fun at Obama, but it was just really hard to understand. I'm also not a huge fan at putting down your opponents in politics. They obviously have different view points so focus on what your candidate can do, not make fun of the other. As silly as the speech might have seemed, Eastwood did hit a major emotional point when he talked about the number of unemployed in the States today. He did such a good job emphasizing the need for jobs and just how hard our economy has been affected by the recent recession. The way he incorporated this emotional selling point was a major strength of this speech. Eastwood got his point across in a very efficient manner which was again a major strength.