Nathaniel Carr makes a strong case in his speech “Music is the Highest Form of Art” for the dominance of music as an artistic medium over other forms of creative expression. Carr’s speech is well-structured, enthusiastically delivered, and uses rhetorical devices to captivate the audience. He could, however, still stand to work on a few things. The speech has a strong structure that is both straightforward and concise. He draws the listener’s attention with an engaging anecdote about a musical experience from his own life before describing art and making the case that music satisfies all of its requirements (GHConlineTV, 2019). Then he gives several instances of how music can elicit feelings and unite people from various countries and eras.
Carr also has a proper delivery since he uses facial and body language to emphasize his points while speaking clearly and authoritatively, keeping eye contact with the listeners. He also uses rhetorical strategies to captivate the audience and make his points memorable, such as repetition and rhetorical queries (GHConlineTV, 2019). Carr could, however, work on some aspects of his discourse. One of them is his use of proof, where he offers some strong examples of how music can arouse feelings and foster connections between people, but he offers no concrete data to back up his claims (GHConlineTV, 2019). His case would have been stronger had he included data or studies on how music affects the brain. Carr’s use of switches between his main points is another way to improve (GHConlineTV, 2019). Although his organization is clear, he occasionally needs to connect them from one concept to the next. For instance, without directly tying the two concepts together, he moves from talking about how music can forge emotional connections to talking about how it can transcend cultural and temporal boundaries.
As a public speaking teacher, I would counsel Nathaniel Carr to focus on supplying more solid evidence to support his claims and pay closer attention to the adjustments between his significant points. More data or figures would bolster his case and make it more convincing, and more precise transitions would make it easier for his audience to understand his reasoning. Overall, Nathaniel Carr’s argument for why music is the best art form is a powerful example of persuasive addressing, and with a few minor adjustments, he could become an even better communicator.
Reference
GHConlineTV. (2019). Nathaniel Carr – 2019 GHC Public Speaking Competition [Video]. YouTube. Web.