Chairman Alan Greenspan, Essay Example

Chairman Alan Greenspan addressed the Harvard University Class of 2009 to honor their achievements and emphasize the importance of education. Ultimately, he argues that it is important for the youth of the nation to pursue an education because doing so contributes to the economic stability of the country as a whole, which allows progress to occur. In his discussion, he focuses on the relationship between education and technology and their ability to remake society into something new.

At the end of his speech, Greenspan chooses to end his congratulatory remarks by stating “You honor me by listening to the musings of an old, idealistic, central banker”. This helps the listener gain a greater understanding of the context of the speech, if they were not formerly aware of Chairman Alan Greenspan’s life or accomplishments. At the beginning of the speech, I agreed with his stance towards the importance of education and how education can allow for economic development. However, I did not understand why he had chosen to discuss this topic at length. It would have been more effective for Greenspan to have explained more about his own life’s events before entering into his speech to allow his audience to make a greater connection between the advice he was offering and the value it would have to the graduating class.

Of the commencement speeches I have heard in the past, I did not believe that this was the most compelling talk that has been given. One of the main reasons this was the case was because it did not appear that Greenspan had a good understanding of his audience. While there were certainly many business, economy, and mathematics majors in the audience, there were also many other students who were not able to relate to the words he was speaking. Nearly everyone present could certainly understand the importance of education, since they were all in attendance to celebrate the completion of their degree. However, these individuals did not receive intensive training in business or economics, and as a consequence, may have felt that this speech was not pertinent or entertaining.

Ultimately, the goal of Greenspan’s speech is to inform Harvard’s graduating class that they should contribute to the progress of the country and that they now have the power to do so because of the education they have gained. However, the only part of the speech that mentions this is the very beginning and the very end. While it is important to emphasize the main idea of a speech in both of these places, good orators typically continue to discuss the point throughout the speech and to provide evidence for why this is true. Greenspan fails to do so, which is one of the reasons that his point is lost.

Many of the more compelling speeches that I have heard typically integrate some rhetorical devices, including logos and pathos. This speech seemed to be generally lacking of these elements. Pathos is defined as the ability of the speaker to apply emotion to what is being said. While Greenspan talks passionately about the information he presents, it does not invoke the emotion of the listener, causing the meaning of his words to become lost. Logos involves the presentation of evidence. While we believe that Greenspan is an authority on the topic due to his position, the information he presents is not backed up by reliable evidence, so we cannot guarantee that he is speaking the truth.

Ultimately, Greenspan’s speech was not very effective because he did not understand his audience well. If his speech were presented differently, he would have been more likely to connect to the graduates. It is important for all speakers to consider who they are speaking to and the purpose of their speech while it is being written.

Works Cited

Greenspan A. Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan. 10 June 1999. 7 December 2014.