340 Part 4 Public SpeakingI am certain that our voices, together with the power of other
organizations that work against this horrible crime, will continue to
galvanize efforts to prevent, suppress, and punish human trafficking.
Changing attitudes and human behavior is difficult, but never
forget that multiple small triumphs over a long period of time are tanta-
mount to social change.
As a foundation that supports the objectives of this historic forum
that aims to put this crime on the global agenda, be certain that:
We will continue to tell the world that human trafficking exists; we
will keep educating the masses; and we will keep working on preven-
tion, protection and prosecution measures in our campaigns to alleviate
the factors that make children, women and men vulnerable to the most
vicious violation of human rights.
Human trafficking has no place in our world today. I urge you to
join our fight. React. It’s time. •Source: From “Speech at the Vienna Forum” by Ricky Martin, United Nations Global
Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, February 13, 2008. Retrieved from http://www.ungift
.org/ungift/en/vf/speeches/martin.html- Note how Martin ends his
speech with a call to action to
join the fight against human
trafficking.
Special-Occasion Speeches
Special-occasion speeches use the principles of both informative and per-
suasive speaking for occasions such as introducing a speaker, accepting
an honor or award, presenting a memorial, or celebrating an achieve-
ment. Almost certainly at some point in your life you will be called on to
deliver a speech at a wedding, a toast at a retirement party, or a eulogy at
a funeral. Special-occasion speeches are frequently delivered on the world
stage as well. In 1993, for example, basketball star and coach Jim Val-
vano gave what is widely considered one of the most inspiring speeches
in sports history when he accepted the ESPY award, a mere eight weeks
before he passed away from cancer. His hopeful message, in which he
encourages listeners to never give up, served as the inspiration for the
V Foundation, which has raised $100 million to fund cancer research
nationwide. We can see in Sample Speech 12.3, an excerpt from Coach
Valvano’s ESPY speech, that uplifting ideas can work well at an occasion
COACH VALVANO takes like the acceptance of such an important award.
the ESPY ceremony as an
opportunity to share some
personal wisdom and per-
suade the audience of how
important it is to live life fully.
Getty Images (^) 1993 ESPY speech
Coach Jim Valvano
I can’t tell you what an honor it is to even be mentioned in the same
breath with Arthur Ashe. • This is something I certainly will treasure
forever. But, as it was said on the tape, and I also don’t have one of
those things going with the cue cards, so I’m going to speak longer than
SAMPLE SPEECH 12.3
- Valvano reveals humility by
stating how honored he is to be
compared to tennis champion
Arthur Ashe—who strove to
raise awareness and funds for
AIDS research before succumb-
ing to the disease in 1993.