With his calm demeanor and confident smile, President Obama always looks ready to give the speech of the century. Many people disagree, however, as to whether or not the speeches he gives deserve that honor. Many critics had declared, prior to his speech in Tuscon, that he had "lost his mojo" since his election, and that Tuscon was to be his chance to get it back. If it were up to me, I would say that if he ever lost it, he got it back in Tuscon. But why is it that it took a national tragedy for Obama to get his mojo back? What about all the speeches between his election and then. Were they all flops?

Obama is an excellent speech-maker. There's practically no debate there. But the debate happens when his ability to connect with the American people is called into question. Peter Canellos, of the Boston Globe, believes that Obama's earlier speeches were successful because of their "hope-and-change" themes, that they were a place where he could channel Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. Canellos even points out, beyond just quoting King, "Where King would refer to “black children and white children,” Obama would speak of “blue America and red America,” in a similar plea for common understanding".

He tries to connect with the American people, and I feel the connection, but maybe I am alone in that. Obama never says "you", but he always says "we". This was on full display in his Tuscon speech, where he was trying to unite the country, and wanted to avoid creating any sort of barrier between himself and the American people. From personal experience, I know that when listening to Obama speak live, the atmosphere is electric, but the most memorable part of his speeches are the anecdotes that he shares from "average Americans". The reason that this is such a successful strategy is because he increases his chances for connecting with people by giving them someone that they can relate to better than they might with only him. In recent speeches, like his State of the Union Address, he increased the number of anecdotes, almost to the point where it seemed like he was telling a story instead of giving a speech.

But even when I saw him, in February of 2008, right before the New Hampshire Democratic primaries, he gave an anecdote of his mother, and of her struggles with the healthcare system before she passed away. It was effective because everyone has a mother, who has most likely been sick at some point in their lives, so everyone can relate to the anecdote. Obama may be criticized for not connecting with the American people, but that's not true. When he connects, it creates some very powerful moments, like in Tuscon. His ability to connect with the American people shouldn't be criticized. If anything, it should be his consistency that is called into question. He never lost his mojo- it was just hibernating.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/01/23/obamas_speech_problem/