Trump’s and Obama's Speeches at the Boy Scouts Jamboree

For 80 years, American presidents have been meeting thousands of boy scouts who are excited to learn the desirable concepts of global diplomacy, service, and citizenship that can be brought home from the president's message. Many past presidents have maintained that they remain as far removed from party politics as they can, a practice that Trump has not followed. Comparing the two videos, Obama gave a brief message, 1 minute and 34 seconds long, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boys Scouts, while Trump delivered 38 minutes and 56 seconds of a deeply political speech. The central thesis of this paper is to give an analysis of the Obama and Trump speeches basing on their clarity, organization, and effectiveness in encouraging the boy scouts to strive to achieve the best.

Analysis

Obama’s speech has a clear thesis lain on his hopes for the future of the scouts. In his speech, he weaves together the organization’s history and comments the excellent service the scouts have done in various communities that had been witnessed in the past 100 years. He goes ahead to explain their vital role in World War II, and he seems to understand the operations of the organization since he was once a member. Trump spoke about several political stories that are not related to the Boy Scouts. His thesis is not clear since instead of talking about what the Boys Scouts have been doing and what they have to do to enhance their service; he describes the failures of his political opponents (YouTube (b)). Even though he gives several examples of former scouts who are now prominent men in the United States, he fails to keep a clear thesis about his perceptions about the organization.

After watching the two videos, I can say that they both have a well-organized pattern. Both speeches portray what is expectable and necessary for the boy scouts. Obama’s speech, for instance, has the best organization that runs from the mentioning the several successful people who once earned the badges of merit as boy scouts. He later goes on to acknowledge the services that the scouts still offer like volunteer work and food drives and then called upon them to press on with the hard work (YouTube (a)). Trump speech is also great since it follows a credible organization, but the only thing problem is that he brings in some unnecessary stories.

The arguments presented by the presidents are understandable and easy to follow. It is not hard for the audience to understand the information that each of them is trying to pass on. Obama’s arguments, for instance, are meant to remind the scouts that they will be depended on in the face of challenges to move the American nation forward (YouTube (a)). This argument develops the thesis by further explaining the significance of the boy scouts to the American nation. Trump throughout his address gave thanks to the boy scouts for their upholding of the sacred of the American nation (YouTube (b)). The only issue is that his arguments do not develop the thesis further. For instance, his comment that it is satisfactory even when a person does not have momentum does not contribute positively to the thesis.

Concerning the clarity and body language portrayed in each of the two speeches, I can say that they were fit for the occasion. They both maintained eye contact and the correct body posture throughout their speaking. Both speeches began and ended well and throughout them, the audience participated either by applauding or booing. Obama began his speech by greeting the boy scouts and ended with a congratulatory statement and encouragement to press on (YouTube (a)). His speech ran from the start to the end without any interruptions, thus enhancing the efficiency and a successful passage of the information. The order of Trump’s speech was also good regarding how it began and ended. I especially like the fact that he started with thanking the scouts and ended with wishes of blessings. This order is a very effective way of delivering a speech.

Conclusion

My opinion concerning the two speeches is that both were suitable for the occasion. They contain very encouraging comments that are useful to the boy scouts. What each of the two presidents said was meant to remind the scouts that they were privileged and had to use the knowledge they gain well throughout their lives. They were also intended to remind them of their position in their various communities and encouraged to be resourceful and carry out their duties to the best of their ability. To me, Obama’s speech was better than Trump’s speech because it was straight to the point and did not include several irrelevant stories that were not helpful to the boy scouts. From the beginning to the end, he touched on the issues that were of importance to the scouts, unlike Trump who boasted his success in the presidential elections and even criticized Clinton’s 2016 campaign strategies.

Works Cited

YouTube (a). President Obama Addresses 2010 Boy Scout Jamboree, Commends and Inspires Future Leaders. TIME, July 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWNyp_-2D78 Accessed 12 September, 2017.

YouTube (b). President Donald Trump's Entire Speech to the Boy Scouts of America. NBC News, July 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwoTegi72WI&t=1s Accessed 12 September, 2017.