SPE103
Historical Speech Review
SPE103 Oral Communication
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American born, Baptist minister and activist. King played
a significant role in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned discrimination in the work place
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which protected African Americans’ right to vote. Married to
Coretta Scott King in 1953 to his death in 1968. Martin and Coretta had 4 children: Martin
Luther King III, Yolanda, Dexter and Bernice. In 1963, King spoke in front of thousands of
people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. On this day, King wasn’t the only one who
spoke, there was a full roster with 10 speakers and after King spoke, organizers led the audience
in a pledge. “I have a dream” is known all around the world, in the speech King wanted to
convey the message that men and woman of any color were created equal and that he had hope
that racism would end. “Martin Luther King Jr. is a master of speech delivery style as he makes
the best persuasive use of pace, pause, pitch and intensity in his speech” (Naser et al., 2020).
Because he was a Baptist minister, Kings predominate style of speaking was a great mix of
cadence, rhythm, inflection, passion and practice. In this speech, his predominate speaking style
was anaphora which is rhetorical term for the repetition of words or phrases. His repetition was
the phrase, “I have a dream.”
The day that King gave his speech, it was nearly a cloudless sky with a high temperature
of 83 degrees. Out of the estimated 250,000 people he spoke in front of, roughly 60,000 were
white. Being that there was 250,000 people crowded, the day was assumed to be loud, but
watching a video of the speech, there was hardly background noise other than the cheering when
King made points. Originally this gathering was a rally for jobs and freedom and King never
intended to make the speech he did, it wasn’t until Mahalia Jackson who was a gospel singer.
“Those on the platform with him knew he had moved off his prepared remarks, and Mahalia
Historical Speech Review
SPE103 Oral Communication
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American born, Baptist minister and activist. King played
a significant role in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which banned discrimination in the work place
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which protected African Americans’ right to vote. Married to
Coretta Scott King in 1953 to his death in 1968. Martin and Coretta had 4 children: Martin
Luther King III, Yolanda, Dexter and Bernice. In 1963, King spoke in front of thousands of
people at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. On this day, King wasn’t the only one who
spoke, there was a full roster with 10 speakers and after King spoke, organizers led the audience
in a pledge. “I have a dream” is known all around the world, in the speech King wanted to
convey the message that men and woman of any color were created equal and that he had hope
that racism would end. “Martin Luther King Jr. is a master of speech delivery style as he makes
the best persuasive use of pace, pause, pitch and intensity in his speech” (Naser et al., 2020).
Because he was a Baptist minister, Kings predominate style of speaking was a great mix of
cadence, rhythm, inflection, passion and practice. In this speech, his predominate speaking style
was anaphora which is rhetorical term for the repetition of words or phrases. His repetition was
the phrase, “I have a dream.”
The day that King gave his speech, it was nearly a cloudless sky with a high temperature
of 83 degrees. Out of the estimated 250,000 people he spoke in front of, roughly 60,000 were
white. Being that there was 250,000 people crowded, the day was assumed to be loud, but
watching a video of the speech, there was hardly background noise other than the cheering when
King made points. Originally this gathering was a rally for jobs and freedom and King never
intended to make the speech he did, it wasn’t until Mahalia Jackson who was a gospel singer.
“Those on the platform with him knew he had moved off his prepared remarks, and Mahalia
