Martin could get away with it, of course.īut for the rest of us mere mortals, switching mid-speech without a pause to speak soaringly without notes in front of 250,000 people, is basically impossible. He had written one speech when clearly a different speech was needed. For whatever reason, he had misjudged the moment. Technically, what that means is that Martin Luther King had not prepared effectively. “I have a dream today…”, he pronounced and it’s from that moment that the speech really comes alive and developed into the famous I have a dream speech that we all know and love.Īnd therein lies my first problem with it. Realising that he needed to do more, he immediately switched tactics, ditched his script, and literally just made up the second half of his speech as he went along (although he had given previous sermons using the dream concept). By Martin’s standards, it’s actually a little plodding.Īnd then his good friend, the gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, sensing that the speech wasn’t quite hitting the spot, shouted out to him “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!” And that’s when it happened.
The speech by this stage is good, solid, and at times deeply stirring. Rather than say more right now, watch the speech and then let’s chat afterwards.įeeling inspired? Now let me tell you the 3 reasons why I don’t like the I have a dream speech.įor the first 12 minutes of this video, if you look carefully, you’ll notice that Martin Luther King Jr is reading from his text. No, my problem with this great speech is that in many ways, Martin Luther King Jnr does exactly the things that I constantly beg my students not to do. The speech, as Mary Poppins might say, is practically perfect in every way. It’s not because there is anything wrong with the speech. So, if the I have a dream speech is such an awesome speech, why exactly don’t you like it, Kola? (he asks himself his own question)
I have a dream speech how to#
(Did you know that 65% of all speeches are poor or average according to research on audience perception? Here’s a Free Workshop you might like: Why most speeches suck and how to make sure yours won’t ) His rhetorical ability was second to none and if YouTube had been around in ancient times so we could compare the speaking styles of the classical orators like Pericles, Cicero, Demosthenes, he may even be known as the G.O.A.T.
Martin Luther King Jr was, without doubt, the greatest orator of the modern age. I defy you to read, listen, or watch that speech without welling up a little (or a lot). It is the seminal speech of the 20th century, and it has a legitimate claim to the title of greatest speech ever given (although my personal vote would go to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address). When Mahalia said that it was almost like a mandate to respond.The I have a dream speech is a phenomenal speech. But Mahalia Jackson was his favorite gospel singer. I’m not so sure he would have departed from the text of his speech. Had there been anyone else - anyone else - who had shouted anything to him, I think he would have been a little taken aback. Where he had been reading, like giving a lecture, but then going into his Baptist preacher mode.Īlso Read: 11 Most Inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. I said that because I could see his body language change from the rear. … And I said to somebody standing next to me: “These people don’t know it, but they’re about to go to church.” He just took the text of his speech and moved it to the left side of the lectern.
When Mahalia shouted to him, I was standing about 50 feet behind him… and I saw it happening in real time. On June 23, 1963, in Detroit, he had made very express reference to the dream. Now I have often speculated that she had heard him talk in other places… and make reference to the dream.
… As he was reading from the text of his prepared remarks, there came a point when Mahalia Jackson, who was sitting on the platform, said, “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream.”Īlso Read: Why the MLK Holiday Has Become a Major Box Office Weekend Very few people know - most people do not know - that the speech that he gave was not the speech that he had intended to give. 28, 1963: King was speaking to hundreds of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial, and millions watching on TV, when suddenly singer Mahalia Jackson called out. write the “I Have A Dream Speech,” told a Television Critics Association panel in 2013 how the most famous part of the speech came spontaneously.