The following list is my response to this
question:
Cogency: forceful and convincing to the intellect and reason (Encarta
Dictionary)
Compelling: attracting strong interest and [undivided] attention (Encarta
Dictionary)
Apt imagery: the figurative language, especially metaphors and similes, used in
poetry, plays, and other literary works; a set of mental pictures produced by
the memory or imagination or conjured up by a stimulus (Encarta Dictionary)
Apt stories and illustrations
Ernest communication rather than
attempts to impress (the absence of artificiality or disruptive contrivances)
Worthy ends: appeals to my best rather than my worst.
A sense of integrity & diligence: the speaker is genuine and doing his honest
best—the speaker believes in what he says and how he says it.
Humility: the sense that the speaker is governed by the
facts rather than trying to control or misrepresent them.
Freshness: in sermons, for example, in
which the speaker is dealing with the “old, old, and familiar stories of the
Bible”, there is nevertheless a sense that this retelling is helpfully dealing
with various aspects of the stories.
Application: the sense that the speech can apply and is
relevant to me.
The time fits the message: the speech is not too short or too long—it is
not over packed nor under packed; there are no obvious “fillers” nor of essential
things left out or inadequately dealt with.
The tone of the message is appropriate
for the subject and the occasion.
This list, while certainly not complete, does
identify major things I look for in a good speech.
