Persuasive Speeches Essay

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The speech I chose was the speech delivered by President George W. Bush on September 20th, 2001. The speech was given to a joint session of Congress, with many key international political figures present. This speech was also televised live for the public. This speech came just nine days after the September 11th attacks. While watching President Bush deliver his speech, I noticed that his body language suggested that this was a subject he was serious and sincere about. When he gave demands to the Taliban in his speech, he hit his hand on the podium, which is a sign of determination to get his point across. I do not feel that a written speech would have been as effective as the televised speech at persuading the public to side with the government. I feel this way because I, like most Americans, needed the reassurance at that particular time that my government was going to do whatever it took to catch the people that orchestrated the attacks and to bring them to justice. A written speech would not have been as personally touching. When President Bush spoke, he used simple words that everyone could understand. His tone was serious and at some points in the speech he showed his anger for what was done to the United States. Also, he showed sincerity by speaking about the people that had been working non-stop to find survivors in the rubble and gratitude to all Americans for coming together as a country to support one another. One element of President Bush's speech that I thought was pretty persuasive was having Lisa Beamer, the wife of Todd Beamer (who helped overcome the terrorists on Flight 93), present in the chamber while he gave his speech. He even recognized her in the speech by introducing her to the crowd which was followed by thunderous applause. I thought this was the perfect way to persuade the American public to favor the
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