Barack Obama is a master of speeches. In his speech “Back to school” Obama encourages students to study hard and urges them to make their education a priority, because they are the only people who are responsible for their own future. The speech takes place at Wakefield High School in Virginia, and goes out to every student in America.
Obama starts out by politely greeting everyone watching from the school, TV, and thanking everyone who has been helpful. He modifies his language to children and young people so he is easily understandable. He doesn’t talk down to the audience, he shows them understanding. He is also using humor to put himself on the same level as the audience, making them feel comfortable;
“… some of you are probably wishing it were still summer and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning” (p. 1- L. 8-9)
This way he doesn’t come off as this strict man from the White House, who is just trying to lecture the students about homework and school. He is not the president of the United States; he is just a man trying to reach these students, trying to tell them the importance of education.
When Obama speaks in public, he uses a lot of different techniques to create a more emotional connection, and therefore he creates an impact on his audience. By using himself as an example he tries to encourage the students to take responsibility for their education, the future of their country, and their lives.
“I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday- at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those look and say, “This is no Picnic for me either, buster.”” (p. 1 L. 10 – 16)

Here we can see the president use pathos where he tries to get the students sympathy by telling them a little story from when he was a kid, and times got rough. They didn’t have the same resources as a lot of the kids in America have now, but despite of that, he still “went to school” and learned, and he ended up becoming Americas 44th president. This sends a message, that if he can do it, despite of his family’s financial problems, and him getting up in the middle of the night with his mom, everyone can do it. And that is a big motivation for the young people.
Obama structures the speech in three stages, which you can categories under the headings of understanding, responsibility and expectation. Obama opens the speech by expressing his under-standings for the students. He uses pathos to get the students' attention and he addresses the speech to both the new students and the seniors. He appeals to the students and their emotions when he acknowledges the anxiousness of the new students, the good feelings of the seniors, and the fact that some of the students are wishing it were still summer. He says that he knows the feeling that it would have been nice to stay in bed just a little longer, and by that he gives the speech a personal touch by telling them about how he felt the same way when he was at their age. He appears very down to earth and this builds up a relationship between Obama and the students and inspires mutual confidence.
In the end of his speech Obama tells the students about responsibility. He makes sure to tell the students that it is everybody’s responsibility, not just the students. The parents and the teachers have to be supportive and dedicated. And it is his job to make sure that the schools has all the supplies that are needed for the students to perform at their best. But in the end it’s up to the young people to decide what they want to be, and they can’t just drop out of school and expect a good job on the other end.
“Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year.” (p. 5 L.161 – 164)

These sentences shows that Obama isn’t just asking the students to do a lot of hard work while he is sitting around doing nothing. This makes him more credible as a president. Now the students know that he is also doing his best to make their schools much better and up to date. And he can expect more from the students.
So what you can draw from Obama’s speech abilities is the way he speaks to young people. You can’t use the same rhetorical means like the way you speak to adults. You have to capture their attention – make them feel safe, and speak a language that they understand, or you end up losing their attention – else they won’t get the message. Obama does this really well, by using humor and not patronizing the students but meeting them as an equal man.