The four genres of public speaking include ceremonial speaking, demonstrative speaking, informative speaking, and persuasive speaking. Ceremonial speaking, as the name suggests, is used to mark special occasions (Morrison, 2017). Demonstrative speaking is often used in conjunction with physical or illustrative presentations, and is similar to lectures in colleges and schools (Morrison, 2017). Informative speaking is similar in that it presents information, but often refers to more abstract subjects (Morrison, 2017). Finally, persuasive speaking makes the backbone of political and socially-charged messages (Morrison, 2017). While combining these genres can achieve good results, one major pitfall of mixing up speech genres lies in transitioning from one to another without it seeming forced or artificial (Morrison, 2017). The examples of successful and failed uses of hybrid genres are demonstrated by two Oscar speeches, one by Michael Moore, and the other one by Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Oscar acceptance speech by Michael Moore sought to appeal to the social issues around George Bush’s war in Iraq. He started as a standard ceremonial speech, and then attempted to transition into a persuasive argument (Oscars, 2012). The transition itself was done poorly, as the subjects did not mesh well together. It was also a contentious subject at the time, so he did not read the audience well. Finally, he did not present any argument to support his position. As a result, his appeal failed and the audience showed disapproval of his speech.
Leonardo DiCaprio also had a goal of addressing a social issue in his speech, which was the climate change. However, his hybrid style was much more appropriate to the task. First, the transitions were seamless because the movie he participated in had connection to ecological matters (Leonardo DiCaprio – France, 2016). He then briefly transitioned from ceremonial to informative style, providing information to the audience about why climate change was important. DiCaprio finished the speech on a persuasive note, asking for those present to support politicians who are pro-environment and to oppose those influenced by mega corporations (Leonardo DiCaprio – France, 2016). Thus, delivery, message, and audience adaptation by Di Caprio made the difference between a successful and a failed hybrid speech style, as shown by Michael Moore.
References
Leonardo DiCaprio – France. (2016). Oscars 2016 Leonardo DiCaprio Wins best Actor – Speech 2016 VOSTFR [HD] QUALITY[Video]. Youtube.
Morrison, T. (2017). The book on public speaking. Morgan James Publishing.
Oscars. (2012).Michael Moore winning an Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine” [Video]. Youtube.