It is the season of speeches. From commencement to politics, it seems to be the only thing that we have been hearing lately. Speeches have a certain type of power in the political, social and personal realm. The interaction between delivery and linguistics can affect the message and impact of that speech.

There is a distinction between a good speech and good oratory. The words can only carry so much. A lot of a speech depends on the delivery of the speaker. Over the past, we have seen good speeches brought down by bad speakers and bad speeches hyped up by charismatic speakers.

For me, I have always been in favor of a well-written speech, mainly because I understand the difficulty of delivering one. One of my favorite television characters has always been Sam Seaborn from "The West Wing." I envied his ability to shape the words that the president was saying. It shaped my perception that the weight of a speech was in the words and that it could be delivered by anyone and the message would be the same. To me, it seemed that the president was more of a puppet to the speech writer than a true source of political ingenuity.

Now that I have gotten older and have had to write my own fair share of speeches, I have learned that there is as much weight in the delivery of the speech as there is in the words that it contains. While Sam Seaborn was in charge of perfecting the sentences that came out of Presidents Bartlet's mouth, Bartlet's charisma is what really ended up winning me over.

During our current election season, we have seen the power of charisma applied to the delivery of speeches. If Trump was saying the same things in a meek voice, he wouldn't have gained the momentum that he has. His brash, abrupt nature distinguishes him from the tamer nature of the other Republican candidates. While Trump may be an extreme example of the power of delivery, it can be said about people in a positive way.

One of the best orators that have ever lived was probably MLK. His message and words were strong but his passion, sincerity and enthusiasm in his delivery were what lifted his voice from the unheard shouts of many. In the following years, we have yet to see a voice that quite matches his in impact and movement.

This year, I had the opportunity to hear the current editor of "The New Yorker" speak at commencement as well as some of my good friends. While I was in awe of David Remnick's speech and his political and inspirational message that he delivered to the graduating class of Claremont McKenna College, I was actually more influenced by the speech given by one of my Ultimate Frisbee captains, Kaitlyn Anderson. She is one of the most charismatic people that I have ever met and that came across in her speech. I think what really got me was the universality of the message of her speech for people my age. It was something that I need to hear as a student still progressing my way through college.

While a speech depends on the rhetoric and the content, it's value is truly only measured in the amount that people take away. The speeches that take into account the idea and attitudes of the audience will find the most success and I think we have seen this pattern in the past few years.