The Great Speaches of Malala Yousafzai
Great speeches not only capture and hold our attention; they also offer insightful arguments about our world. Malala Yousafzai did this extremely well as she used carefully crafted language to appeal to her audiences’ emotions and core values in an attempt to get them to help her cause. This engaged and captured the attention of people all over the world.
Malala was born in Pakistan, a country where the Taliban prevents girls from receiving an education. She was lucky as her father was determined she went to school. Malala spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and their right to learn, this made her a target resulting in her being shot. Malala spoke at the United Nations on her 16th birthday for the voiceless children who wanted a change in society. Her topic focused on the right for girls to get compulsory education.
Malala engages and connects with her audience by the structure of her words. An example of this is when she states “In the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent.” This was spoken in Urdu, which connected with the people who speak that language making it more engaging and helped keep the audience’s attention. Another way Malala held the audience's attention is when she exclaimed “one book, one pen, one child and one teacher can change the world” this captures the audiences’ attention by the repeated use of the word one. This portrays the simplicity of the change required to achieve the goal.
An example of how Malala used metaphors and insightful arguments about our world is when she states “Empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.” Firstly she uses inclusive language like “ourselves and us” to make the audience feel like they're part of the cause. This conveys the fight the country is facing for girls to be educated. By using the outcomes of education, she shows that if more people support the cause, the war against injustice will be won.
She continues the uses of the war metaphor in her speech as she goes on to say “instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers send teachers.” This shows her desire for the world to stop fighting and start supporting the education of children. Her speech offers many solutions to how the audience can get behind her cause.
In conclusion, Great speeches not only capture and hold our attention; they also offer insightful arguments about our world. Malala did an amazing job of this using dramatic pauses, repetition, gestures and insightful arguments for the voiceless children who wanted change. This engaged and captured the attention of people all over the world.
