For one, he was an exceptionally good speaker for his age. He said some very dramatic and possibly emotional things to try to get the audience thinking. Though his "aggressive" approach was very repetitive and didn't consist of much, it got many points across. With that said, I believe one of the only reasons he got the reactions he did was because of how young he was and that it almost seemed like more of a gimmick.
Like many, I believe that his use of pointing and numerous hand gestures made a great impact on how the audience listened. They were drawn in by his enthusiasm and confidence. Most people, especially 5th graders, wouldn't even dare speak to 20,000 people; let alone his almost natural approach. Though it did remind me of an African American church sermon but that's just me. The way he used his voice to enhance his speech was very good, yet like I've said, was very repetitive. He had a very clean and natural sound to his voice. He didn't even sound nervous. He either felt that way about the subject, or was very good with memorizing a speech. Some of it though I felt was him just wanting to get the crowd fired up, but it did help him along.
He was a great keynote speaker for sure, he stood out more to the audience. Most people don't think of 5th graders giving a lecture of some sort so he was a good way to keep the attention. Being his age, the "cute" factor comes into play as well, people may listen more because of his age, and people may not. But it seemed to be a great way to get the message across. It was an inspirational message to keep teachers "believing" in their students, and students believing in their teachers. How long the message would last is a good question, but hopefully it would have been taken to heart. Usually inspiring things work for a short period of time until people either stop care or forget. But all in all, I "believe" that the teachers and other school faculty members took that message and planned to keep it with them as they teach.
