A Good Speech. Really?

By now many of you must have heard of the highly publicized and talked about appearance of Gov. Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention. Her ‘Pep Talk’, which is what I call it, has been hailed in the media and upgraded by the political commentators to a “Good Speech”. Some have even gone as far as to express the view that her ‘oratorical skills’ rival that of Barack Obama. Wow, I am still mentally digesting that claim. Anyway, after hearing her speech and reading about all the praise it was getting, one question kept on appearing in my mind. Did Sarah Palin really deliver a “good speech” or did she deliver a good Pep talk? Is she really oratorically gifted?

Speeches that have been deemed good, more often than not, are adjudged so because of their content and delivery. Good speeches that have stood the test of time are about a content that urges humanity to reach for greater ideals and are able to create motivation that outlives the speech itself. It’s not about applause but rather what are people applauding? Generating applause in response to sarcastic attacks on political opponents or the belittling of their personal and professional achievements does not make it a good speech.
Even if we base our assessment of the speech solely on political expediency, the content still falls short because it didn’t appeal to persons outside the Republican base. She was in effect preaching to the choir and we all know the choir is filled with sycophants (smile). From the content of good speeches we derive famous lines such as “I have a dream” (Martin Luther King Jr) or “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (Ghandi). What do we get from Palin? A riddle. “What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick” Now that’s deep. Watch out Martin, that riddle may be replacing your quote very soon.

In terms of delivery, a good speech must be perceived as coming from a genuine and sincere place within the person, not something written for you by somebody else with the intent of scoring political points. Palin comes across as stiff, condescending, intolerant and contrived. Her odd looking facial expressions didn’t help any either.
In addition, a well delivered speech doesn’t pause in solicitation of applause. A well delivered speech is interrupted by unsolicited applause. Palin’s delivery fell short in every category.

However, I am by no means inferring that she was not effective in making the crowd like her and get them fired up.
I did, after all, start off by saying she delivered a good Pep talk.