Give me liberty or give me a death speechGaining credibility in a speech can sometimes be difficult and can test even the ability of the best speakers to command the attention and respect of the crowd. One way to maintain credibility with the public is to practice and use ethics. Which is defined as gaining favor with the audience by demonstrating strong credibility in the speaker (Merriam-Webster). One of the best speeches that exemplifies the use of the appeal to ethics is Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death" speech, in which he addresses the issue of war at the revolutionary convention. Henry, by appealing to ethics, built credibility and wanted the people listening at the convention to believe that they could not sit around and do nothing, but instead had to get their hands dirty and beat. Through his high moral character, Henry established credibility with the public by creating a setting that aroused feelings in convention attendees to convince them that they needed to fight for more than just peace. Henry's goal when talking about war was to be honest with the crowd and point out that they had to do something now or they would lose not only what he loved, but what they loved it too. Henry said: "If we are to be free, if we are to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have fought so long...and which we have pledged never to relinquish until the glorious object of our struggle is achieved, we must fight! In this quote, the ethics tactic is clear as Henry wanted to achieve a personal level of connection with the audience and establish credibility. In describing the loss of war, it also meant the loss of their feelings of comfort and contentment...... middle of paper ...... Henry is right about when the war might begin, but he was also right in that he pointed out to the convention that Britain knew itself to be weak and vulnerable at the time. In conclusion, when addressing an audience, it is important to build on the interests of the audience and establish credibility of the topic being presented. In Henry's case, his speech, which was more serious and had been wartime, had to be handled carefully and with the public's feelings in mind. To take anything away from this speech would be having a dream and presenting it to people the same way you believe in it worked much better rather than talking about a plan and presenting it to people. Because if you tell people a plan, they're not invested in you, whereas they might be more invested if you told them about your dream and what you know as you build credibility with them..