I transcribed part of the speech I’d like to analyze (up to 7:44), and have listened/watched it several times. Here are some of the things I noticed.
- At the beginning, Jack Ma starts his talk by having a friendly conversation-like monologue with the audience. He continues this tone throughout most of the speech.
- Jack maintained eye contact with the audience members throughout the whole duration. I think this made him look very confident in his speaking.
- Hand gestures were used through most of the speech, but did not distract the audience.
- I could tell when Jack used certain words in the subtitles as he emphasized them with more force than other words. Numbers were commonly emphasized as he used a lot of statistical data to back up ideas. Some words, such as “dreams”, “ideals”, and “fantasies”, were emphasized by repetition.
- Telling shocking or humorous stories kept the audience engaged and interested.
- Although his speech was overall about entrepreneurship, many aspects of the motivational messages were applicable to everyone.
- His tone and volume did not dramatically change. Most of the speech sounded somewhere between “casual conversation” and “business meeting-esque.”
- When referring to conversations, he changed his voice for other characters.
- Paced back and forth while on stage.
- Limited facial expressions. Included the occasional smile, smirk, or sarcastic look.