Beyoncé’s Acceptance Speech (Grammys): Analysis

When receiving her 32nd Grammy on February 5, 2023, Beyoncé made history by becoming the most-awarded musician in the history of the Grammys.

Keep reading to see AI and human analysis of Beyoncé’s acceptance speech.

Beyoncé’s Acceptance Speech at the 2023 Grammy Awards

Beyoncé received a total of four Grammys at the 65th annual awards ceremony. The one that broke the record was in the Best Dance/Electronic Album category for her album Renaissance. It’s this acceptance speech that we’ve analyzed.

Beyoncé’s acceptance speech lasted about one minute and 16 seconds. The Yoodli AI speech app provides a summary of the key points and main ideas from the speech:

• Beyoncé expresses her gratitude to God and to her uncle Johnny, who is not present.
• She thanks her parents for their love and support.
• Beyoncé expresses love and thanks to her spouse and children.
• She thanks the queer community for their love and for inventing the genre.
• Beyoncé acknowledges the recognition of the Grammys.
• She expresses gratitude for everyone involved.

Here are a few clarifying notes about what Beyoncé said in her speech:

• The album is dedicated to her late “Uncle” Johnny. Johnny was actually Beyoncé’s cousin, but he was two years older than Beyoncé’s mother Tina. Tina regarded her nephew Johnny as the person closest to her before his death. They grew up together, and Johnny helped Tina raise Beyoncé and her sister Solange. Johnny introduced Beyoncé to the house music that influenced her award-winning album.
• Beyoncé has been married to fellow musician Jay-Z since 2008. They have three children.
• When Beyoncé thanked the queer community for inventing the genre, she referenced the LGBTQ+ ball culture.

AI Analysis of Beyoncé’s Speech

We ran the speech through the Yoodli AI-powered speech app to receive immediate analysis of Beyoncé’s word choices, delivery, and more. In addition to the summary of the key points and main ideas above, Yoodli provides a transcript of the entire speech. (Take a look at the screenshot from the app below, and see the full analysis here.)

The Yoodli speech app identifies these top keywords from Beyoncé’s acceptance speech: thank, like, beautiful, much, and trying. The Top Keywords feature is a quick way to get an idea of the speech’s message. (This is helpful feedback for your own speeches so you can see whether you’re staying on message.)

What Went Well

Yoodli indicates that Beyoncé’s speech didn’t contain any sensitive words. That means that Yoodli doesn’t detect language in the speech that might come across as offensive.

The AI analysis finds that Beyoncé’s acceptance speech included some repeated sentence starters: She started four sentences with “Thank.” (That makes sense!)

Yoodli points out that Beyoncé said “so much” twice and “just” once. Yoodli categorizes these words and phrases as “potentially weak” and indicates that such language makes up only 3% of the entire speech (not bad at all). “Weak” here means that more specific, concrete, or emphatic words and phrases could make the speech stronger.

One metric that’s a bit surprising is that Beyoncé’s acceptance speech didn’t contain any filler words (um, uh, like, etc.). It’s typical for a speech to include up to 4% filler words. For a speech that isn’t scripted (or, at least, not read), it’s quite unusual to have zero filler words.

What Could Have Gone Better

The Yoodli AI speech app points out a couple of delivery elements of Beyoncé’s acceptance speech that could be improved.

First, her pacing was slow. Specifically, all of the speech was either on the low side of—or below—conversational pace. Her long pauses could account for this.

Second, Beyoncé made eye contact only about 42% of the time during her Grammy acceptance speech. Some of the time, her eyes were closed as she appeared to take in the emotion of the moment. Sometimes she looked up; other times, she looked down.

Human Analysis of Beyoncé’s Speech

Beyoncé took the stage as the audience rose to cheer and applaud. The acceptance speech didn’t seem to be scripted or rehearsed, but her words flowed freely (albeit slowly at times). She came across as sincere, humble, and outward-focused.

After an opening “Thank you so much,” Beyoncé said, “I’m trying not to be too emotional.” As she took a long pause to collect herself, the audience raised their level of applause and cheers to encourage her, as it was clear that she was somewhat overwhelmed.

As the Yoodli AI analysis showed, Beyoncé’s pace was slow. Typically, that’s not ideal if you want to keep an audience engaged. However, in this context, the pace seemed just right. The experience was understandably overwhelming and emotional. Too often, we’re tempted to rush our words when we’re emotional or overcome. But, Beyoncé did well to take her time. That probably contributed to the remarkable absence of filler words. She spoke slowly and deliberately. She chose her words and didn’t get carried away in the moment.

As Beyoncé continued, she thanked God for protecting her. Then, she addressed God directly for a brief but sweet moment to say, “Thank you, God,” as her eyes remained closed.

In a way, Beyoncé missed out on connecting with the audience by way of eye contact. But, considering the circumstances, that’s completely understandable. Her warm smile seemed to make up for any connection lost otherwise. There also appeared to be a relationship of friendship between Beyoncé and the crowd. And, those on the stage and in the audience seemed to have a genuine joy and admiration for her and this moment.

Beyoncé’s acceptance speech at the 2023 Grammy Awards won’t stand out for its outrageousness or brilliance. Nor will it be remembered for an embarrassing wardrobe or language gaffe. But, the moment will stand apart for the achievement it represents. And, Beyoncé—with her expression of measured and simple gratitude—knew that it was enough.

Wrapping Up

You probably don’t have a Grammy acceptance speech to prepare for (not for a year, at least), but you might have an upcoming interview or presentation at work. If you’d like to see analysis of other speeches, including your own, sign up for the free Yoodli app. Not only can you upload and record speeches, you can play fun games that help you practice and improve everyday speaking skills.

You’ll probably never have the audience that Beyoncé has, but you can achieve her level of comfort and confidence when you speak. Like her, you can take advantage of speaking opportunities when they come your way—and you can speak from the heart. That’s always the best place to start.