Mary Anne’s Speaker Spotlight: Al Gore Challenges America with a Visionary Call To Action 5 Stars

MARY ANNE’S SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT

*      Snoozeland  
**    Get out the hook!
***   OK but could be better
****  Good with great potential
***** Great and ground breaking

Speeches are rated based on their rhetoric, writing, delivery, emotional and inspirational impact.

Al Gore Challenges America with a Visionary Call To Action

5 stars

Al Gore gave a terrific speech last Thursday and I would like to call your attention to it.

In his speech, Gore went far beyond a basic concern for the climate and challenged the American people to join together in a strategic initiative. This initiative is a bold and ambitious plan to develop solar, wind and geothermal power to supply the worlds energy needs.  Al Gore called us all to “lift this out of the partisan framework,” and reexamine climate change from a renewed and boldness of purpose:

“Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.”

http://www.youtube.com/EnergyEnvironmentTV

(Note: Gore’s speech actually begins at 2:20 after his opening remarks.)

EMOTIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL IMPACT

• While Al Gore is not known for his overtly emotional delivery style, this speech hits his sweet spot. In this speech, Gore is as full of as much passion and commitment as I have ever seen him. 
• His strategic initiative proposed last week is a bold extension of his life’s work on climate change, global warming and energy conservation.
• Gore’s speech broke new ground when he argued that the reasons for renouncing fossil fuels goes far beyond concern for the climate.
• Gore emphasized that a shift away from fossil fuels would make the United States a leader instead of a sometime rebel on energy and conservation issues worldwide.
• Gore’s delivery style in this speech,  places him firmly in the category of trusted elder statesman. “Of course there are those who will tell us that this cannot be done,” Gore conceded, “But even those who reap the the profits of the carbon age have to recognize the inevitability of it’s demise. As one OPEC minister observed, ‘The Stone Age didn’t end because of a shortage of stones.’”.

DELIVERY ANALYSIS

• Gore speaks slowly and clearly and allows each point to land before moving on to the next one.
• Gore looks down into the faces of his audience, and is animated as he takes in the entire audience, one section at a time. This delivery style creates the sense that you feel as if he is talking right to you.
• Gore keeps his gestures to a minimum and every once and awhile he will punctuate a point with a strong gesture for added emphasis.

WRITING AND RHETORIC

• Gore’s speech is very well written and he commands his audience’s attention by carefully and logically he builds his case for the facts.
• Gore backed up his ideas with research
• Gore did not shy away from saying what he really thinks, nor from clearly defining and laying out what was important for us to understand  about climate change and the urgency of the matter at hand:

 ”There are times in the history of our nation history when our very way of life depends upon dispelling illusions and awakening to the challenge of a present danger. In such moments we are called upon to move quickly and boldly, and shake off complacency, throw aside old habits, and rise clear eyed and alert to the necessity of making big changes…”

Even in Australia, on the same day Gore gave his speech, Pope Benedict XVI echoed Gore’s statements. Pope Benedict XVI said that humankind’s “insatiable consumption” has scarred the earth and squandered it’s resources, telling followers that taking care of the planet is vital to humanity.

As Al Gore said Last Thursday, “This is a generational moment. A moment when we decide our own path and our collective fate. I’m asking you, each of you, to join me and build this future.”

So take a moment to check out Al Gore’s speech. It’s groundbreaking in it’s message and also very well delivered.

http://www.youtube.com/EnergyEnvironmentTV