How to Write a Critical Analysis of a Speech

Analyzing a speech is a useful skill for understanding rhetoric use.

When critiquing a speech, it is your responsibility to judge the orator’s success at clearly and effectively conveying a message. The best way to properly judge an orator’s success at delivering a speech is to judge the orator’s use of rhetoric. When analyzing the rhetoric of a speech, your primary goal is to assess critically how effectively the orator uses words and persuasive language techniques to achieve the goals of the speech.

Instructions

1. Identify the topic of the speech and include relevant background information.

2. Introduce the speaker’s name, the occasion of the speech, the location of the speech, the intention of the speech and the audience. At the end of the introduction, include a thesis statement that states your opinion of the speech’s effectiveness at fulfilling the topic and meeting its intention. Be sure to state the overarching reason that lead you to this opinion.

3. Expand upon information about the speaker in a paragraph. Mention how the speaker establishes his credibility within the speech. Discuss how the speaker shows his connection to speech’s subject matter and establishes a relationship to the audience.

4. Discuss the content of the speech. Mention the use of any repetition or themes. If the speech fits into a certain genre, mention how its structure reflects similar speeches.

5. Write a paragraph about the structure of the speech. Discuss whether the beginning, middle and the end of the speech are recognizable and how. Mention the style, sentence structure or similarities in paragraph structure.

6. Analyze whether the form and content complement each other in a paragraph.

7. Construct a paragraph about the tone of the speech. Consider the word choice within the speech and how it affects the message. Also consider vocabulary and use of figurative language.

8. Reinforce your thesis statement about the speech’s effectiveness or success. In other words, clarify whether you believe the speech’s content is successful at conveying its message. Mention the speech’s shortcomings and highlights. Your conclusion should reinforce the main ideas from your introduction, but it should not repeat or summarize them.

Tips & Warnings

• Try to relate each of your paragraphs to your thesis statement. By relating the content of your paragraphs to your thesis statement, your critical analysis will be cohesive. Additionally, it is good practice to have the body paragraphs within a paper support the thesis or main idea.

• Write more than one paragraph for each step if necessary.

• Rearrange the paragraphs to best suit your needs.

• Always consult with your instructor before beginning a speech analysis. Your instructor may have specific requirements about the information that should be included in your critical analysis.

• You may be required to include different information depending on whether you are critiquing a live speech or a written speech. If you are critically analyzing a live speech, consider including information about voice modulation, enunciation, body gestures and eye contact.

References

• ReadWriteThink: Speech Analysis Questions
• Silva Rhetoricae: Basic Questions for Rhetorical Analysis
• The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Speeches