Annan Delivers Model Farewell Speech

If you ever need to make an argument that not all powerful speeches are long, dull, dry affairs, take Kofi Annan's speech at the Truman Presidential Museum and Library for your main support.

   

UN Photo/Mark Garten

What an amazing amount of POP! the outgoing Secretary-General of the UN put into one small tidy package. The speech ran no more than 25 minutes and delivered a straight-forward punch at what he ultimately sees as the near-sighted (perhaps blind?) approach the U.S. is taking in foreign
affairs.

"You Americans did so much, in the last century, to build an effective multilateral system, with the United Nations at its heart," Annan said. "Do you need it less today, and does it need you less, than 60 years ago? Surely not."

In less than 3,000 words, he outlined five lessons he's learned during his two terms as Secretary-General. Five lessons which lead him to the question above: Does the U.S. need the UN less than it did when President Harry Truman was in office?

The speech is also an excellent example of creating what I call "active listening" among the audience. He tells the audience in advance he has five points to make and then makes them, one by one, in a very direct fashion. Neither lesson is wordy, indicating to the audience that the speech won't take long. He inserts good quotes and research. He uses a good mix of rhetorical devices to enliven the language. And he leaves then with a hope and a prayer.

A great speech. And one, I might add, that should be mandatory reading for our high school students today.