I liked the context of Obama's speech but..

[fishface]

he seemed rushed which IMO reduced the affect of what should have been a home run speech.I don't know if they had him on a leash about the timeing (which they shouldn't have done if so) but it lost some of the effectiveness because of it.
And he needs to get a speech coach..like Bill Clinton to teach him how to slam home his points with accentuations and inflections.

[AP]

1. I thought that speech was perfect.

It lost nost nothing because of pace.

I followed every single word and sentence of it.

I was with Obama every syllable.

I'm sure someone will post an mp3 here somewhere and you can revisit it.

[Window]

20. I agree.

Obama was pure genius!

[GalleryGod]

2. Sorry to disagree but it was the best Keynote since Cuomo's in 1984.

:yourock:Barack :yourock:

[fishface]

3. I know a lot will disagree with me.

I thought it was a great speech too but he seemed rushed.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Could be that he was a tad nervous

initially. However, he's speaking style is very much reminiscent of Malcom X. Faster at parts than others...but always very clear. I found Obama's speech perfect in every way.

An "acceptable" (for white folks) Malcom X. Wonderful!

[NoQuarter]

8. The first time

your audience is THAT big, nerves enter into the equation. Don't recall now where I saw him interviewed this afternoon, but he pointed out that this would be by far the biggest address of his young political life.

Being a performer myself, I would venture to say that the rushed feeling you got may have been the result of a slight case of nerves. One learns to control that, but very few have that kind of command the first time it is needed.

[w13rd0]

13. He said that...

...during his MTP interview...

[izzie]

25. I liked that and it may be his style.

Many people in NE think that is very normal.I can recall how we could not see a thing wrong with the way JFK spoke and Johnson drove us nuts and you would hear it said the other way around in the South.Yar as an answer still goes over big in Maine.

[AVID]

4. I thought was just right

he hit his stride during the red-state / blue state portion - awesome

[fishface]

9. Agree..

it was just the seemingly rushed beginning he had to take to get there that I wasn't so happy about.But make no mistake.. it was an outstanding speech in it's content.

[Tatiana]

5. I think he was trying to finish within his time frame. n/t

[fishface]

6. That was my thought also.

They should have allowed him the time he needed. He had a fantastic speech and they should have let him give it without the restraint.

[City Lights]

38. Yup. Heard him say this when he and his wife were interviewed.

He was quite proud that he was able to deliver it within his alloted time.

[quinnox]

10. I wasn't that impressed with it

I know there has been a lot of praise for the speech, but I didn't think it was all that great myself.

[FrenchieCat]

11. could be.....

bad taste? that you have.

[Swamp Rat]

12. T'was an excellent speech!

I wonder why anybody would find fault?

[bowens43]

14. Rushed? It was perfect. It was not only a home run

it was a grand slam.

[shawcomm]

15. Sorry, but...

Are you kidding? He was amazing! He needs nothing from Bill Clinton. That wasn't a nuanced political speech aimed at eliciting a specific reaction, that was a fire-in-the-belly I-believe-it-so-can-you speech.

We elected the wrong candidate for President.

(I know he didn't run, but he should have.)

[lapislzi]

32. It is not yet his time

This was his national debut, and he performed marvellously. Imagine the man in 8 or 12 years when he has 2 senate terms under his belt. He will be an unstoppable force.

[callous taoboy]

35. An amazing speech!

It lagged at first but I was left thunderstruck by the end. There is still hope, and this is a man the repukes do not like seeing in the limelight.

[Eurobabe]

16. oferchrissakes

nothing less than absolute perfection for some people. jeez, i wouldn't want to be you.

[Judi Lynn]

17. It might be educational if you had a site where we could hear YOU

addressing a vast body of Americans during an election year for 15 minutes. We could undoubtedly all learn at your feet.

You just may leave them all spellbound, far more than did Barak Obama.

On edit:

Would you also say you find it odd that he's not far more handsome than he is? More like you?

Found this little gem in google, apparently being used at FreeRepublic. Valuable intelligence shines out of this creation, as well, just as in your post:



I believe they call it "Osama, Obama." Clever in a way you might appreciate.

[fishface]

21. (chuckle) Don't take it personally.

It's my opinion. Trying to imply I'm a Freeper will only make you look silly.;-)

[No Mandate Here.]

18. His message and delivery...

brought tears to my eyes, and caused me to predict to my 16 year old son that Obama will be the President by the time my son is 30 years old.

I asked the boy if he would lift himself from the computer game to hear a bit of the speech, and he replied that he was pretty well aware of Obama, and was pretty impressed with him. I did the next best thing-- I turned it up so he could hear fom the next room.

I think the speech and delivery were perfect for the low key- no vitriol- no hate spewing theme of the convention.

I am paraphrasing... " the hope of a nation where a skinny kid with a funny name can dream of being Senator." Hey, skinny kid... don't stop there. I'll help.

[Justice]

19. It was a fantastic speech

[sushi]

23. I agree!

He could be in the WH in ten to twenty years.

[jukes]

22. Respectfully disagree, f/f

i was deeply moved by his speech & consider him a polished orator. that guy is headed for history, IMHO.

[union_maid]

24. That was a homerun speech. Maybe a grand slam

I was stunned, really. To have a speech that had been so hyped live up to that hype, and by such a young guy, too, was stunning to me. I hope I live long enough to vote for him for president.

Remember Clinton's first major speech to a convention? Clinton's improved a lot since then. Obama doesn't need to.

[Walt Starr]

26. It was the best speech of the convention

better even than the Big Dawg's.

[Judi Lynn]

27. You're right. It was amazing.

A DU'er wrote on another thread that Barak Obama was worried prior to the speech because he feared he wouldn't be able to fit it all into the 15 minutes allotted him, if the audience took too long to applaud at any point.

He did an astonishing job. Very few people have EVER come along with as obvious a GIFT as he has for communication.

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. I thought so too!

It was an amazing speech. Truely inspiring!

[shawcomm]

36. I can't imagine

anyone else is going to top his performance - even John Kerry. Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm putting JK down or anything. It was just so awe inspiring to hear him.

[xchrom]

28. O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!

rushed?
bull shit -- he was perfect!
obama rocks!

[displacedtexan]

29. Let me get this straight...

This is how I read your post (Correct me if I'm wrong):

Obama talks too fast.

DNC and/or JFK campaign might be controlling Obama, which hurts his effectiveness and is a bad thing.

Obama needs a speech coach.

He's not as good as Bill Clinton.

Obama didn't slam home his points.

Obama needs to work on accentuations and inflections.

***
I used to be a state-winning (Illinois) speech coach.

There is such a thing as "build," which was obvious in Obama's speech: without an effective build, even the best-written speech falls flat... (The #1 fear in America is public speaking; therefore, a speaker wants the audience to believe that s/he has worked to overcome this fear.)

There is such a thing as a "natural bag of tricks," which is a speaker's ability to charm an audience with his/her "regular person, just like you" facials, slightly-flawed delivery (which gets better as the speech builds), unquestionable sincerity (facial and body language), and obvious dedication to the purpose of the content.

Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey character in "it's A Wonderful Life" (among others) is the perfect example of why Obama's speech last night, in my opinion, really did "hit a home run."

That film was just a B Movie. The studio never imagined that that actor's character development would propel that film to its current popularity.

If Obama fixes all of the problems you cite, he will lose that charming "everyman" quality. I hope he doesn't change his delivery style.

[jdonaldball]

30. Strategic suggestion: Let's just agree that

it was a fine speech and he'll be a great Senator.
I gave my more detailed opinion about this on the "Obama, A Star Is Born" thread elsehwere on GD.
We won't all agree that his speech was brilliant. Must we? Wouldn't it be a mistake for us to start arguing with each other about the magnitude of his greatness?
Personally I think he's a very good speaker and a very wise and decent man, and potentially a good or great leader. I don't share the effusive adulation for him that others have. But does it matter?
What matters is to get him into the Senate.

[davidwhite0570]

33. I agree 100%.....

We can't be fighting over small things like the speech, which I thought was outstanding, or we fall into the GOPs trap to divide and conquer.....

I missed the little girls speech.....I caught just last few seconds....is there a link?

[jdonaldball]

34. Thanks, I'm already attracting some minor flames

on the "Obama Star is Born" thread.
Our opponents want us to attack each other over petty bullshit instead of sending Dems to Washington by any means we can.
In passing I will mention that Personality Cults are contrary to Democracy. And we're all guilty of that from time to time.
But it's a big, big mistake to attack any of our allies in this fight over whether we admire one of our candidates as much as we are supposed to.
Some of us don't admire Kerry as much as others (I suported Dean), but that's no longer what this struggle is about.
This election is for national survival and for the soul of the country, as Carter said. (And I never admired Carter much, but damn it, he moved me to tears when he spoke on Monday.) We can argue later about how wonderful any of our favorite Dems are.

[gauguin57]

37. I thought it was perfect, too ... because his natural habits

haven't been coached out of him. A speech coach is going to tell him to pause for effect and stop waving his hands around so much and blah blah blah and it just won't be as natural and cool when that happens.

[Radical Activist]

39. People from Chicago talk a little faster

That's his natural speed. Bill Clinton is from the South so he talks a little bit slower. Sometimes slower is better.

[progressivebydesign]

40. Loved the speech...

he did seem a bit nervous (c'mon, WHO amongst us would NOT be a tad nervous???). The speech was hyped as the "speech of his life!", only someone heavily medicated with indural would NOT be nervous.

The speech was great, the crowd loved him... the media loved it.. I'm not sure what measure of judgement people are using to judge these speakers.... they are NOT contestants on American Idol. They have something to say, and it's valuable. We are not all born orators, but we all have something to say.

[lumpy]

41. Fishface

tries to pick an invisible fly out of the mayo. Obama's speech was perfect. Nice try but no cigar, fish.

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. It's his "style"....

and "I" thought it was perfect! His style, his message, his tone and his PASSION....Perfect. Just perfect. IMCPO ;)

[jdonaldball]

43. It was Perfect!

It was a perfect speech!
Obama is like the Sun in our hearts!
All who disagree, are enemies and Running Dogs!
Curse all who do not say Obama's speech was brilliant!
He made us weep! He touched our hearts!
He is like the Sun in our hearts!
Ten Thousand Years to Obama! Glory! Glory to Obama!
Anyone who does not agree with this, is our enemy!
Glory to Obama! This is what Democracy means!