Actio & Pronuntiatio

Speach by Barack Obama

Reducing gun violence in USA

Preface

The road to become the US President is long and includes years in somekind of public
service or politics, One of the most important skilles the president has to have is to be
good in rhetoric. Be quick to think, be persuasive and come up with intelligent answers
when asked. A US President needs to be trustworthy to the eyes of the voters, the
congress and the rest of the world. Barack Obama, the 44th.president of the United
States has all the qualities that an expert in rhetoric and all five canons needs to have.
Obama made a speech in the White House regarding a terrorist attack that happened in
San Bernardino, December 2, 2015, calling for more background checks and sale
restrictions. 14 people were killed and 22 were seriously wounded.
The topic was gun control law in the US. To emphasize the seriousness of this matter in
the press conference, he was joined by his closest staff, parents-, victims from gun
violence incidents and Vice President, Joe Biden at his side.
Obama and the canons of rhetoric
1. Invention, Obama and the White House has a team of highly skilled speech writers.
Even though he decides what the topic is about, most of his major speeches are made
with his team.
2. Arrangement, in this selected speech by Obama he uses all arrangement of a
classical oration, introduction (shooting in Arizona and Senator Gifford), narratio or
facts, (how many deaths by guns in US,). Partitio, goes on to his main high point in his
speech, to confirmatio where he tells exactly what there needs to be done and states
that lifes can be saved by doing what he is proposing. He hardly has any summary in
the ending (peroratio). But leaves the audience by saying that if Americans love there
kids, they should have courage to do what a sensible country should do He is
referring to that the nation should unite to reduce gun violence.

3. Style, that is Obama strong side. He has what Barthes calls, theater in his voice. He

can build up excitement, be very funny and calm at the same time. Obama style is
exactly the manifestation of his person. The way he speaks, how he uses humor with
his easy outgoing performance. Even in toughest and sensitive matters like this speech
on gun control he performs his speech brilliantly.
4. Memory, Obama clearly uses in most of his speeches a teleprompter, a device
located under the TV camera. In this press conference and his address to the nation
about gun control, its very obvious he has memorized the speech, and even though it
seems that he looks occasionally on a screen to see if he is on track. Its clear that he is
in full control over what he has to deliver.
5. Delivery, actio. The last of the five canon rhetoric and one of Obama strongest
speech tactics. In this gun control speech that I use as an example, shows clearly in my
opinion how he uses his face expression and hand gestures to make his speech work.
The skills and his abilities to make the audience have mixed emotions when listening
and watching his face and body language. the look on his face when he talks about this
debatable and unpopular subject,
Looking at the speech more closely
Barack Obama speech in the White House starts with a cheering crowd, the hall is full
of victims or relatives that have lost some one to a gun related death. Then there is the
press, writing, documenting, taking pictures and broadcasting.
Obama starts with the subject on guns by talking about the shooting in Tuscon Arisona,
five years earlier. His face expressions are very serious. He looks over the room in all
directions in order to get as many eye contacts as possible. After every few words he
speaks, he pauses for a moment and then continues on. He does that more or less
through out his 30 minutes speech. He builds his speech in talking about US senator,
Gabrielle Gifford, who was shot and seriously injured in the Arisona shooting. Obama
speaks in a slow but very decisive voice, saying that she is there with them at the press

conference. Obama breaks up the seriousness by joking about Giffords brothers

husband who was an astronaut trying to call the president by a long distance phone
call. Obama is very calm, and smiles few times as the room laughs to his jokes. He still
has not taken the serious look completely of his face, as he continues to speak. Obama
uses a special style in his delivery. An example from the speech on the 4th min. and
56th sec, Hundred and thousands of Americans have lost their brothers and sisters ...
or burried their own children.. many have to learn to live with disability.. or learn to live
without their love of their live.. and number of those people are here to day. Obama
looks very serious, his voice is down, he takes long pauses inbetween the lines (3-5 sec
each pause) and always keeps his eyes to the attendees.
The volume of his tone is soft and intermediate. His speech is centered on the message
(Logos), the way he speaks is very clear and not at all ambiguous. Obama uses
enourmous sympathy tone in his words and face expression. His statements are
supported with external proofs, he talks about mass shootings over time in the US and
also deductive enthymemes where he takes all his examples and sums it up that now it
is time to do something about this. He structures his speech in a way that he combines
statistics (30.000 people killed by handgun usage) and mixing it to more personal parts
of the speech.
When Obama wants to emphasize on something important he raises his voice, lifts his
left arm to make things very clear. He uses not much body language over all, only when
he emphazises his words. Also to make things clearer and to draw attention to key
points, for example when he speaks about why the congress (the Republicans) could
not pass his bill on background check when buying guns. He sums up what he is going
to do, use government agencies to do more background checks, use the FBI and
sophisticated computers to find criminal behavior and gun dealers to protect the public.
When looking into three categories of important elements in delivery by Aristotle,
Obama has good variety in his voice. He usually speaks in a intermediate tone, in this

speech using seldom a lower tone. Every time he makes a point, what his plan really is
about, he raises his voice and makes a statement with a serious look and long pauses.
His rhythm is moderate but slows down his speech when he wants the audience to feel
emotionally about gun murders, intended to give people the chance to think about what
he is saying. After every promise on what he is going to do he gets an applause from
the audience. For Obama, timing is a key in his speech, the way he ends his lines is
very straight to the heart. He has the ability to be very persuasive, and finds all the
appropriate words and phrases that moves people. The tone of his voice is his most
powerful tool in his speech. He makes his mission sound so clear, the fluctuation of his
voice controls the atmosphere in the room. He also has the ability to talk both in a very
serious way and also to see the lighter side of life, making people laugh.
Its very difficult to have a serious speech about gun related murders and at the same
time get peoples hearts by talking about his belief in people, that what everybody has
in

common

is

to

have

peaceful

life

with

out

unnecessary

violence.

To deliver a speech with so complex emotions and fill it with laughter is a sign of a
person that has reached a status of a master over rhetoric speech.
At one point he goes straight for the heart, a child that gets shot in the head and dies,
and what he will do for the good of the American people to reduce this kind of fatalities.
Over all his speech is always very calm and speaks in a such a matter that its very easy
to follow him from beginning to the end. Obama fits the description when Aristotle
defines rhetoric the art of extracting from every subject the proper degree of
persuasion it allows. (Barthes, 1970). His speech performance and discourse is
performed like an actor, with all the lines ready, his face expressions given at the right
time and only using body languge when needed and only then.
His style is to use the final words, god bless you. Obama shows his faith in the
justice system as in higher authorities like Jesus and God.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSP_oTNO5EM