The King's speech

What we take for granted sometimes evokes great fear, deep pain, and even greater effort for others to undertake.

What we dismiss as mere words and mastery of elocution skills, has at one time or another determined the fate of a nation, even the outcome of the greatest battles and the greatest tests that mankind has come to know.

Above and beyond the personal struggles, historical color and weighty lessons submerged in motion and dialogue, the movie “The King’s Speech” has left me with a greater appreciation and even greater respect for the art of “speech writing” as well as the total involvement and effort that great leaders have given into their speeches.

As a young boy I was exposed to “elocution” and the discipline of memorizing great speeches. It was elocution or declamation as some would call it that forced us to look into another window, another world, another time and partly experience the emotion and idealism of great leaders or tragic victims.

Even as I experience Late Life Crisis where memory has to be backed up by Google and Wikipedia, I am still able to recall lines from such classics as :The Gettysburg Address, Invictus, The Charge of the Light Brigade and snatches from speeches made by The Reverend Martin Luther King and the works of Shakespeare.

With this backdrop, I find myself looking into the works of today’s speechwriters, and speechmakers in government particularly Malacañang.

Yesterday, I caught most of the President’s Independence Day speech and it was to me a mixed bag in terms of content, impact, delivery and style.

In terms of content and impact, the speech made me realize that the Aquino administration has focused and succeeded in pursuing one fundamental or basic objective. Borrowing the words from the song “The Impossible Dream”, I would say that the PNoy administration has been good at trying to “right the unrightable wrong”.

PNoy drew the pictures and it was easy enough to understand that they have been busy dealing with the past sins of the Arroyo administration and thereby establishing what is right, resulting in better governance and benefit to the people.

Beyond this, the speech started to fall apart as there were just too many examples to digest with very little detail to determine if they actually mattered. What I feel spoiled the speech was the manifestation of lingering displeasure or even hurt over the issue of the President’s purchase of a Porsche or his being an aging bachelor.

There is wisdom when someone does not forget past sins, however it must be based on the presumption that he has forgiven others as well as himself, whoever may be at fault. There is a time and a place to be angry but definitely not always.

In a matter of weeks; one of the most anticipated, watched and criticized and copied speeches delivered on Philippine soil will once again be delivered by the sitting President of the Philippines.

Once again we will hear the annual State of the Nation Address from the halls of Congress.

Aside from its focus and its content, one wonders if it will be a speech written with a number of punches and pauses in order to rack up applause? Will it be a get-even — with-my-critics-and-the-opposition kind of speech? Or can it be an often remembered and perhaps never to be forgotten piece borne by passion and true greatness?

Can the President and his team devote themselves to writing a speech that reflects both aspiration and eloquence of the Filipino people? Can they craft a literary reflection on our state of affairs and march forward with a spirited challenge and commitment to pursue something just short of “the Impossible Dream”?

Yes they can, but will they?

In the choice; lies what differentiates the great from the ordinary. When we dare to dream, to think and actually do what many won’t, what many take for granted, there lies the difference.

In watching and interviewing many accomplished artists and leaders, I have heard and learned that great work comes from great honesty:,honesty at who you are and what you believe in. It is your level of comfort with what is true as well as what is uncomfortable that makes people real, believable and inspirational.

The greatest mistake of past SONA writers and their presidents has been to write an accounting, a progress report and their opinion about those they don’t like or who disagree with them. It may be their state of affairs but that is often not the real State of the Nation.

The fact is, whatever every administration has achieved before each SONA, has already been publicized and milked for every drop of public relations material the week or the whole month thereafter. So in effect, making a Recap or review is as exciting as watching reruns on cable or on the DVD.

Finally, President PNoy might enjoy as much as learn from the lessons in elocution or speech presented in the movie “The King’s Speech”. President Noynoy, is a natural born public speaker, but like many others, he tends to speed up just when he should be slowing down for emphasis, for impact and superb delivery.

As a result he fumbles, he coughs, and he throws the ball away.

As someone who is currently blessed with a “captive audience, the President should take his time in both his expression and delivery because at the end of the day, speech is not merely the verbalization of sentences and thought.

A speech is the gift of the spoken word, of goodwill to others. It serves to bless others not to curse. God Bless all of us.

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