Even president Obama seems to get a little bit nervous when giving a speak- everyone does. It is especially common in the beginning of a speech before you really begin to feel comfortable and get into the body of what you are saying. This was apparent during president Obama's State of the Union Address because in the beginning he continued to take long almost awkward pauses. It was unnatural and distracting because it left you wondering what he was going to say next. As he began to get further into his speech though, the number and length of his pauses thinned out a lot. It became clear that he was much more comfortable in front of the cloud and once he was more relaxed it was easier to pay attention and absorb what he was saying. After Obama was comfortable, the pauses he took were good because the really emphasized what he was saying.
Obama used great hang gestures that were not too big, but still enough to make him look like a human being. He also used sweeping eye contact that kept the entire audience engaged. Obama had good variation in his tone, and it kept things more interesting and easier to pay attention to his words. Even when he tripped on a word he kept his voice under control and kept going without letting it influence him.
Obama had a good appeal to the audience. Of course everything he had to say concerned his audience because we are all Americans, but he made sure to mention stories that were fresh in Americans' minds. He used situations that everyone could relate to in order to keep the audience engaged. Overall he made the speech very interesting and easy to follow. After getting past the anxiety, Obama made sure to encompass many good public speaking qualities.
