May 20, 2014

I Have a Dream Speech Analysis

It’s the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. The “I Have a Dream” speech was our very first Free Resource of the Day back on March 1st, 2006, and we’re happy to feature it again on this 50th anniversary. Today we are featuring it on our podcast to be streamed on audio or downloaded:

Great Speeches in History Podcast

Welcome to our Resource of the Day e-mail! One of our favorite free titles in our free directory is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s classic “I Have a Dream” speech. Delivered on August 28th, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., King’s passionate call for justice and equality was the battle cry for the civil rights movement in America.

It is the first and latest podcast listed on our “Great Speeches in History Podcast”. If you click “Listen to Podcast” you will hear it, or if you scroll down the page (past the reviews) you’ll see it and you can click “Download File – 7.7 MB” to download it. It’s not listed yet on iTunes but if you “Subscribe Free” to the podcast then the “I Have a Dream” speech will download in iTunes. Please check out the other great speeches we feature on the podcast as well.

You can also get this great speech from the ultimate site for getting great American speeches on audio, AmericanRhetoric.com. Also on this page we link to a video of the speech on YouTube:

I Have a Dream Speech on Audio & Video

Also we have a few bonus free resources that feature analysis of the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech:

Why MLK’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech Has Such Historic Impact

Learn more about the historical significance of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” and why it is considered a great speech with this free recent talk from the Aspen Institute given by philanthropist David Rubenstein. Rubenstein takes a look at some of the most famous speeches in history and analyzes why they are considered great from the historic time they were delivered to the rhetorical devices that were used in the speeches. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” fits most of the criteria, except that King improvised from his originally written text to deliver the final stirring “I Have a Dream” oration. Rubenstein puts the speech in historical context and points out that the speech really didn’t come to prominence until after Martin Luther King’s death in 1968.

Art of Public Speaking: Share a Vision – Martin Luther King’s Dream

The Great Courses is offering this free video lecture from their course The Art of Public Speaking: Lessons from the Greatest Speeches in History. Professor John R. Hale uses Dr. King’s speech as an example of a great inspirational speech. He discusses the beginning of the speech and why it is not nearly as remembered as the final “I Have a Dream” part of the speech. He talks about how Dr. King invoked Abraham Lincoln and used Biblical phrasing in much the way Lincoln did in his day. And he mentions King’s ongoing optimism throughout the speech which helped to inspire the crowd. Professor Hale emphasizes points that you can use from the “I Have a Dream” speech to optimize your own public speaking ability.