This week, I attended Flora’s Film Friday, where we watched The King’s Speech, an Oscar winning movie from 2010. The movie is a dramatized account of King George VI’s speech troubles and his interactions with his speech therapist. The movie especially spoke to me since I, like the king, had a stutter as a child. While I went through speech therapy at a much younger age than the king and ultimately overcame my stutter entirely, I still remember what it is like to want to say something and have trouble getting the words out. This pressure and anxiety must have been amplified a seemingly infinite amount being the king versus being a regular elementary school student like I was.
More so than the personal connection, the movie got me thinking whether one needed to have a great speaking voice or speaking skills to deliver a truly great speech. And as crazy as it sounds, I don’t think it is necessary. There are certain underlying qualities that are behind great speeches. There is the message, the connection, and the delivery. However, the delivery does not solely hinge on the speaking voice. It is about body language, eye contact, and confidence. If one has a lisp or stutter, as long as they deliver their message in an engaging way and their message is worth listening to, then their speech troubles will not be a huge factor. In fact, one can turn their speech troubles into an asset. In 2015, a contestant on the reality TV show America’s Got Talent named Drew Lynch was a stand-up comedian with a severe stutter. Rather than letting the stutter hold him back, he was upfront about it and spoke with confidence despite the struggle to get the words out. His confidence lead him to 2nd place on the show and a successful career as a comic since. While being a comedian and being a politician like King George VI are two very different domains, they both revolve around public speaking. And the way I see it, public speaking is more of a confidence game than a “can they get the words out” one. In King George VI’s first war time speech, he had some stumbles, but his confidence behind the delivery prevailed, making it one of the most iconic speeches of the WWII era.
There is some truth to your post, although I believe that the delivery of a speech should not be undervalued. To be a truly great public speaker, you must be a great speaker. In the case of George VI, he had the advantage of being the peoples’ king, and thus the inherent quality of being inspiring by the mere position which he held. A message is indeed important, but to deliver it is equally so.
It is great to have a different perspective of the problem faced by he character. I think it is an interesting way to watch a film. Yet regarding the necessity of the ability to make speech, I believe it is essential for the king to be able to deliver a speech about war articulately. Otherwise the citizens might question this decision and power.