Shekha Mozah 2010 Zurich Speech Research Paper

Introduction

Communication is very important in every activity we undertake in the society today or in the future. Communication should pass a clear message that should be understood by the audience or the listeners. One of the modes used in capturing the attention of the audience is persuasion. The best way to achieve persuasion is either through revealing the truth or by stirring up the emotions of the listeners. The character of the person delivering a speech or trying to communicate with the audience is important in the communication process.

During the presentation of the FIFA 2022 World Cup Bid announcement, Sheikha Mozah moved the audience with her speech. Her speech reflected her smart personality and brought out how well she was aware of the realities of the World Cup games. This essay is going to analyze Sheikh Mozah’s speech during this specific event with the intention to find out how effective her speech was.

Analysis

Her highness Sheikh Mozah began her speech by asking the listeners when they thought it was the perfect time for the World Cup to come to the Middle East, and this drew the attention of the audience. Once she had caught the attention of the audience, she went ahead to engage the public and explore more on the issues she was about to bring out. Sheikha Mozah did state the facts that indeed, the World Cup had never been held at the Middle East, and her appeal struck the tone of sincerity among the audience.

For instance, she outlined the importance of the World Cup to the Middle East and the role of the football in uniting the whole region. Her speech reflected honesty and credibility concerning the fact that she emphasized what a high status this game succeeded to achieve and that Qatar had to be recognized as a part of the nations contributing to the growing significance of football (Fromherz, 2011).

When she said, “A World Cup in Qatar will send an important message to the world that after 92 years of waiting, we will finally become a recognized part of the global football family.” With this phrase, she raised the question of football being a global sport game, and thus Qatar being a member of the global football family should be also given a chance to host this event (MalaysiaQatar, 2010). Her speech did bring out her character as an honest and convincing leader due to the fact that she focused on the importance of football in bringing unity and peace.

Her speech was to bring out her passion for football, and she achieved this by emphasizing the significance of football in unifying the youth. An example of how Sheikha Mozah incorporated sports with the daily life of the youth can be seen when she states, “Football shows that persistence leads to success, that problems could be solved through teamwork, and also teaches’ them values and rules. And if not, a yellow card will result.” By adding humor to her speech, she sounded more credible.

Her highness made use of indirect appeal to get to the audience in a very personal appeal. She became very passionate in her speech when speaking about values and beliefs in approaching the FIFA committee in a direct way (MalaysiaQatar, 2010). Moreover, she reached out to the audience by talking to them directly, and thus making her appeal more personal. For instance, she pointed out a collective message, “It will show the Middle East and the entire world that it is possible to bring East and West together”.

Sheikha Mozah used pathos to bring the message when she was not speaking of herself, but revealing the emotions and referring to the whole region of the Middle East. She underlined her message with a fervent appeal when she explained that she was not only the mother of her children but also the mother of a region. She went further to elucidate on how football contributed on achieving peace and unity among the youth in the region (Newman, 2010).

During her presentation speech to the FIFA committee in Zurich, Sheikha Mozah made a logical appeal to the committee to consider Qatar to be the host of 2022 World Cup. In her speech, she emphasized that in the history of the World Cup, Middle East had never had the opportunity to host such an event. She did that by elucidating the importance of the World Cup for Qatar because it would change football and global unity in the region (Rahim, 2010).

Her highness’ speech was delivered in a logical manner since her appeal started with the question ‘when.’ She went ahead to answer that question through the use of the phrases, such as ‘The time has come. The time is now’. As a result, she convinced the FIFA committee of the importance of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup. Her speech evoked the emotions of the audience since she highlighted how sports affected the daily lives of the youth in every part of the world.

However, it included her personality that brought the spotlight on the importance of football in Qatar and the whole Middle East region that touched the emotions of the audience (Wood, 2010). When she spoke of football in the Middle East region, she delivered a collective message that made her speech gain lots of credibility. Her message did show her authority in understanding the situation in Qatar and the Middle East region and told the story of the youth through football in relation to the World Cup.

Personal Reflection

When we analyze the speech delivered by Sheikha Mozah, we realize that stating facts in a passionate and credible manner strikes a good rapport with the audience. However, her speech was not only a passionate appeal for consideration of Qatar as the World Cup host. Her speech was heeded by all the people in the Middle East since she spoke on behalf of their dreams, aspirations and believes. Qatar is an Islamic nation with traditional Islamic culture and beliefs practiced all over the country.

Qatar and the Middle East people are mainly conservative, and thus, Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid was a departure from the past. The Middle East region has been rebuilding and rebranding itself through different events for the past decade (Newman, 2010). As a result, Qatar decided to be among the nations that host a global event such as the World Cup. Sheikha Mozah and, to some large extent, Qatar’s bid to host the World Cup were a marketing tool to attract the people and businesses to the region and make it a global tourist destination.

Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organizing committee understood that the effect of the World Cup being hosted in Qatar would be phenomenal. Since a lot of people would visit the country, explore the culture of the region and get to familiarize themselves with the Middle East (Fromherz, 2011). Consequently, the 2022 World Cup would serve as the best marketing tool for the regional tourism and sport.

Since Qatar will be hosting the 2022 world Cup, the country will be a sports destination which, as a result, is obligated to build its own team. Young people will be encouraged to play sports, and these sports facilities will be utilized later after the World Cup which contributes to building Qatar and the region as a sports destination (Rahim, 2010).

Conclusion

The process of communication is quite complicated and the way we communicate can be perceived differently by many people. During the communication process, the speaker has to deliver his/her message to the audience in the most appealing manner with facts, humor and passion. Sheikha Mozah did her best during the FIFA committee meeting to gain her country the right to be the host of the 2022 World Cup.

Her speech impressed the FIFA World Cup committee, and many people attribute her speech to have helped Qatar clinch the rights of hosting the event. Moreover, her speech was moving in that it was passionate, honest and humorous while at the same time, it delivered strong message to the audience.

Sheikha Mozah made her speech appeal to the audience by making her message personal while addressing the facts as well. The delivery of her speech was majestic due to the fact that she started her speech with the question ‘when’ and went ahead to answer it in the best possible way.

References

Fromherz, A. (2011). Qatar: A Modern History. London: Penguin Books.

MalaysiaQatar. (2010). Qatar World Cup 2022 Bid Presentation By HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser. Web.

Newman, W. & Newman E. (2010). Principles of Communication and Sermon Preparation. New York, NY: Palgrave.

Rahim, T. (2010). Qatar and Sheikha Mozah’s Vision Extends Further Than the World Cup. Web.

Wood, J. (2010). Communication Mosaics: An Introduction to the Field of Communication. Boston, MA: John Wiley and Sons.