Obama's 2008 Acceptance Speech - analysis

Obama’s speech is both political and personal because although it is received in a political circumstance due to his election, it is also personal to him and the nation he is addressing. This is due to the fact he is the first black President in America and is not only an achievement of his own, but one that America welcomed and found incredibly empowering. This is why his acceptance speech is very influential and Obama opens the speech by asking, “if there is anyone out there, that still doubts that America is a place where anything is possible… tonight is your answer.”

Obama has all the control in the speech and no one else speaks (aside from cheering). He keeps a positive face throughout as although he has been chosen by the people, he still has to prove himself and therefore still needs to be liked and appreciated.

The speech keeps a high level of formality and intelligent vocabulary is used throughout, however the formality changes when he discusses his family personally, such as mentioning getting a puppy for his daughters. He alternates address so while the majority of the time he is speaking to the audience, he specifically thanks and mentions certain individuals and speaks directly to them. He uses specialist vocabulary, explicit to American’s, for example, when he is discussing historical events or places in the country that only American’s themselves may know. Due to the nature of the speech, unity and bonding is essential for its success. Obama constantly discusses America as one union and lists all types of people to make his audience feel included. This technique works alongside personal pronouns such as “we” and “us.” He uses these techniques to make the language emotive and personal – especially when he continuously mentions historical events and uses personal anecdotes. The events make the audience feel more united due to all the struggles they have endured together and reminds them that Obama is there to improve things, therefore he is a symbol of hope to them and of course, incredibly powerful.

Another technique he uses is anaphora at the beginning when he began each paragraph with “it’s the answer”. Although the speech is structured into paragraphs, Obama speaks slowly and clearly, and often pauses so the audience has a chance to take everything in. In these moments, the audience usually applauds which highlights his influential power.