Dr. Rick Rigsby and His Very Good Speech
Dr. Rick Rigsby delivered his inspirational speech at a college graduation in 2017 and within a matter of days it went viral, over 130 million people viewed the speech around the world.
Dr. Rick Rigsby Image via Rick Rigsby Communications
A dynamic and powerful speaker, Dr. Rigsby delivered his popular speech entitled, “The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout Will Change Your Life.” (Watch it Here) The speech is about the lessons he learned from his father, a third-grade dropout, who was also the most intelligent man that he had ever known. He empowered and challenged his audience by asking them to ask themselves, “how am I living?”
Dr. Rigsby delivering his popular speech. Image via Youtube
Dr. Rigsby spoke in such a way that heightened the power of his message. His personality was clearly enveloped within his speech as he spoke loudly and filled the room with his voice. His presence was abundant, and he used the volume of his voice to strengthen how his points reached his audience. He also depended heavily on gestures as he swayed ever so slightly to the rhythm of his message and pointed at times or moved his hands to add to the grandeur of the topics he was presenting.
It is clear also that he had strong eye contact. He connected well with his audience and his eye contact was one way he accomplished this goal. He did not depend on notes at all but rather, was clearly prepared for his speech and passionate about his message. He also connected to his audience through that passion and the sense of humor which he used to convey it. He often would say “mhmm” in response to some of his jokes and comments, as though encouraging the audience to join in on his jokes and the clear enjoyment he had from speaking.
The one piece of criticism I would say is warranted is that his rate of speaking was quite fast. This made it hard to follow him at times or fully digest his powerful remarks. There were several strong quotes and “wow” moments, but if only another second after each of them were given, the audience would have had more time to fully understand what he was saying within each of those moments. This piece of criticism largely limited Rigsby’s effectiveness as many of his points did not hit home as well as he may have liked them too, and because he spoke so quickly it was hard to follow the organization of his speech in some ways.
Overall, he still had a very effective and empowering speech. One that relied heavily on his pathos and ethos, as he spoke of his own father’s wisdom and how it encouraged him in life. But also, on logos, with the many quotes he pulled out of his hat with names such as Aristotle and Mark Twain making an appearance.
Any audience member walked away from his speech feeling inspired and must have enjoyed his speech, yet with simply a slower pace at times and an extra sentence warranting his points at times, his speech could have gone from a very good speech to a great speech.
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