Week 2 Application Assignment
Name of Speech (Occasion)
The speech being discussed here is “Oprah Winfrey Receives the Cecil B. DeMille
Award – Golden Globes 2018", delivered by Oprah Winfrey at the Golden Globe Awards held in
2018 for the 75th time. The event honours great achievements in the entertainment industry, and
in the speech, Winfrey reveals her power and the important role of her activity for society.
Audience for the Speech
The main target audience comprises Hollywood industry stakeholders, actors, directors,
producers, and the overall audience that will be watching the event transmission. Further, the
speech is more appealing to the audience that has been influenced by Winfrey’s career, and the
show in particular, as well as advocacy, particularly women and other vulnerable groups.
Stated and Implied Purposes
The declared goal of the speech is to thank them for receiving the Cecil B. DeMille
Award and to pay tribute to those people who have influenced Winfrey and helped her
throughout her life. The hidden theme is to fight for the rights of women, minorities, and the
marginalized and always to speak the truth; the audience is urged to keep on fighting for what is
right.
Rhetorical Strategies and Techniques
Figurative Language
Similes and Metaphors: The first one is that Winfrey employs various figures of
speech like ‘a new day is on the horizon’ to mean a new hope and change
(Winfrey, 2018).
Symbols and Imagery: To explain such instances, she paints a picture of how
people feel, for instance, when Sidney Poitier won an Oscar (Winfrey, 2018).
Appeals
Emotional Appeal: Winfrey uses the storytelling technique to emotionally appeal
to the audience by sharing her own experience of watching Sidney Poitier win an
Oscar or the story of Recy Taylor (Winfrey, 2018).
Logical Appeal: She rationally explains why the press is relevant and why it is
critical to tell one's story, giving a rationalization of why these aspects are vital in
fighting inequality (Winfrey, 2018).
Logical Fallacies
The speech does not contain any fallacies since it uses the appeal to ethos and
pathos by relating the events to the life of the audience and by presenting the
facts about inequality and the role of the press that can be considered true and
convincing (Winfrey 2018).
Style
Examples from the Speech
Winfrey supports her ideas with strong narratives, including the effect of Sidney Poitier
receiving the Oscar and the case of Recy Taylor, which makes the speech inspiring and easy to
recall (Winfrey, 2018).
Clarity and Conciseness
The speech is coherent and to the point, all the ideas are explained clearly with the usage
of examples. This structure helps the audience to be in a position to follow and even understand
the message being passed (Winfrey, 2018).
Choosing of Words and Language Employed
Winfrey's language is simple yet quite strong, which can explain the fact that the author
manages to explain rather complicated ideas and concepts in a rather simple manner. The choice
of words also appeals to people's emotions and rationality, which contributes to the effectiveness
of her speech (Winfrey, 2018).
Passive or Active Voice
She mainly employs the use of an active voice, which makes the delivery more energetic
and vivacious. It also plays its part in making her message clear and urgent (Winfrey, 2018).
Visual Strategies and Tactics
Use of Images
While the speech does not contain any forms of graphic presentation, Winfrey uses
words that paint a picture in the viewers’ minds. This strategy assists the viewers to paint a
picture of what she is saying hence making it easier for them to grasp what is being said
(Winfrey, 2018).
Oral Strategies and Tactics
Music and Volume
Volume: Winfrey also varies her tone in a way that would make her speech
interesting and ensure that important points are stressed (Winfrey, 2018).
Speech Patterns: She is able to pause and change the rhythm deliberately to keep
the attention of the audience and give them time to process the information that
she gives them. All these techniques improve the general presentation and impact
of her speech (Winfrey, 2018).
Other Sound Effects
The speech has little in the way of sound effects beyond Winfrey's voice and the way she
naturally emphasizes various words and phrases (Winfrey, 2018).
Personal Reflection
Oprah Winfrey’s speech is one of the most powerful speeches that call for the necessity
of telling the truth and the role of storytelling in the processes of change. It is easy to follow the
content of her lectures since she combines personal stories and historical examples. The speech
emphasizes the importance of the persistent fight for gender and racial equality and the press’s
function in exposing injustice. Thus, Winfrey’s observations reflect the material studied in
Deborah Barrett’s (2014) Leadership Communication; special emphasis should be placed on the
role of language and the importance of emotional intelligence in the process.
