How to Cite President Obama’s Farewell Address

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President Barack Obama delivered his farewell address to the nation on Tuesday, January 10, 2017, signifying the end of his historic time in office. Let’s review how you can easily cite this speech in MLA format, APA format, or Chicago style if you found it online as a transcript or a video.

How to Cite a Transcript of the Speech

One transcript of President Obama’s farewell address is found on the White House’s website.

In order to cite the transcript, locate the following pieces of information:

  1. The speaker’s first and last name
  2. Title of the speech transcript
  3. Title of the website reproducing the speech
  4. Name of the publisher
  5. Date that the resource was published
  6. The URL to the resource

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s online transcript in MLA 9:

Speaker’s Last name, First name. “Title of the Speech Transcript.” Title of the Website, Name of the Publisher (only include if it’s different than the name of the website), Online Publication Date, URL (remove http:// or https://). Transcript.

The above transcript of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in MLA 9:

Obama, Barack. “President Obama’s Farewell Address.” The White House, The United States Government, 10 Jan. 2017, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell. Transcript.

Here’s how the above example would be cited in an in-text citation:

(Speaker’s Last Name)

(Obama)

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s online transcript in APA 7:

Author’s Last name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Date of Speech). Title of the speech transcript in sentence case [Speech Transcript]. Website Name. URL

The above transcript of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in APA 7:

Obama, B. H. (2017, January 10). President Obama’s farewell address [Speech Transcript]. The White House, The United States Government. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell

Here’s how to cite a speech transcript with in-text citations in APA 7:

Parenthetical: (Last Name, Year)

(Obama, 2017)

Narrative: Last Name (Year)

Obama (2017)

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s online transcript in Chicago’s note-bibliography style:

Note Template:

1. Speaker’s First Name Last Name, “Title of Speech,” Date of speech, Location of speech, Medium, information on where to find the transcript: Website Name, Website Publisher’s Name, URL.

Bibliography Template:

Speaker Last Name, First Name. “Title of Speech.” Date of Speech. Location of Speech. Medium. Information on where to find the transcript: Website Name, Website Publisher’s Name, URL.

Author’s Last name, First name. “Title of the Article or Individual Page.” Accessed date. URL.

The above transcript of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in Chicago (note-bib. style):

Note Example:

  1. Barack Obama, “President Obama’s Farewell Address,” January 10, 2017, Washington, DC, Transcript, The White House, The United States Government, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell.

Bibliography Example:

Obama, Barack. “President Obama’s Farewell Address.” January 10, 2017, in Washington, DC, Transcript, The White House, The United States Government, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell.

 

How to Cite a Video Recording of a Speech

One video of President Obama’s farewell address is found on the White House’s YouTube channel.

To cite a video recording of the speech, locate the following pieces of information:

  1. The speaker’s first and last name
  2. Title of the video
  3. Date and location of the video recording (if available)
  4. Title of the website
  5. Medium or format details (video, MPEG, etc.)
  6. Video running time (e.g., 15: 35)
  7. Name of the publisher or uploader  (if different from the website title)
  8. Date that the video was uploaded
  9. The URL to the video

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s video in MLA 9:

Speaker Last Name, First Name. “Video’s Title.” Website Name, Publisher of the Website (only include if it’s different than the name of the website), date the video was uploaded online, URL (remove http:// or https://).

*In MLA, the structure for a video recording reference entry changes if the video appears on a “sharing site” (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.). Follow the structure below if the video is on such a site:

Speaker Last Name, First Name. “Video’s Title.” Sharing Site Name, uploaded by Uploader Username, date the video was uploaded online, URL (remove http:// or https://).

The above video of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in MLA 9:

Obama, Barack. “President Obama’s Farewell Address.” The White House, The United States Government, 10 Jan. 2017, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/farewell.

*In MLA, the structure for a video recording reference entry changes if the video appears on a “sharing site” (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.). Follow the structure below if the video is on such a site:

Obama, Barack. “Farewell Address to the American People.” YouTube, uploaded by The Obama White House, 10. Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDyjUIsD-wQ

Here’s how the above example would be cited in an MLA 9 in-text citation:

(Speaker’s Last Name)

(Obama)

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s video in APA 7:

Speaker Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Date of Video Upload). Title of video in sentence case [Video]. Website Name. URL

The above video of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in APA 7:

Obama, B.H. (2017, January 10). Farewell address to the American people [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDyjUIsD-wQ

Here’s how to cite a video recording of a speech with in-text citations in APA 7:

Parenthetical: (Last Name, Year)

(Obama, 2017)

Narrative: Last Name (Year)

Obama (2017)

Use the following structure to cite the speech’s video in Chicago’s note-bibliography style:

Note Template:

1. Speaker’s First Name Last Name,  “Title of Video,” Date and Location of Recording, Publisher Name and Publication Date (if available), format (DVD, video, etc.), URL.

Bibliography Template:

Speaker Last Name, First Name. “Title of Video.” Date and Location of Recording (if available). Publisher Name, Publication Date. Video, Video Running Time. URL.

The above video of President Obama’s speech would be cited like this in Chicago style (note-bib.):

Note Example:

  1. Barack Obama, “Farewell Address to the American People,” filmed January 10, 2017, in Washington, DC, The Obama White House, January 10, 2017, video, 51:25, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDyjUIsD-wQ.

Bibliography Example:

Obama, Barack. “Farewell Address to the American People.” Filmed January 10, 2017, in Washington, DC. The Obama White House, January 10, 2017. Video, 51:25. https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/20/politics/trump-inaugural-address/index.html.

Photo Source: “20141010-OSEC-BR-0011” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Licensed under CC BY 2.0. Original image was cropped.

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