Emma Watson Public Speaking

Two years ago, Emma Watson launched HeforShe at the UN with a history-making speech calling for gender equality (one that has been viewed on YouTube alone over 1.7 million times).

Over a million men have pledged support to the UN Women movement, and while there is still work to be done, Watson is overwhelmed by the progress made in just two years. We've seen seismic shifts in culture recently, she told a crowd at the New York City Museum of Modern Art last night. Watson was one of the last speakers in a stacked lineup that included speeches by Finland's President Sauli Niinistö, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Watson presented Trudeau a HeforShe pin on stage. She was very excited about it).

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Emma Watson Un Hi Res Stock Photography And Images

I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned on the TV to see that Bud Light was pledging gender equality and equal pay as part of their current advertising campaign. We already have some amazing things happening, some amazing female leaders, but I don't know if I would have believed you if you had told me two years ago before I made my HeForShe speech that we might have the first female President of the United States—please don't let me down, America!—a female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and possibly for the first time in history, a female UN Secretary General.

#HE4SHE Champion Pres #Finland, Sauli Niinistö joining forces w/ Emma Watson, Global Goodwill Ambassador of UN Women pic.twitter.com/sMRb37qYM6— Kai Sauer (@sauerka) September 21, 2016

Women, girls and boys all over the world will have real-life examples that women are leaders.' In the last two years if I have learned anything, if they have shown me anything, it is that nothing—

Emma Watson On Gender Equality And The Struggles Of Activism: Transcript

—is impossible. And that's why tonight, as well as saying thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done, I ask you to recommit yourselves to be a part of gender equality. I genuinely feel that we are closer to a gender equal world.

Watson ended on a personal note: I am proud to have been part of lots of amazing things in my life, but there is nothing that I am prouder of than being part of this.

Gosh, I'm so overwhelmed. Thank you to everyone that has shared their story tonight and has contributed to what has been the most heart-warming moment of my year. Good evening. Being a part of HeForShe for the last two years has been an incredible learning experience for me. There have been some really hard moments and a lot of amazing ones: ones I never could have imagined. The UN Secretary General, the entire EU Commission, the NATO Secretary General, the President of the International Olympic Committee, numerous heads of state and politicians from around the world, including those that you've heard from tonight, and everyone from Usain Bolt to Tom Hanks are now all HeforShe. We've crashed the UN website on multiple occasions—sorry about that! We have lit up the Empire State Building, seen HeForShe in Times Square, and made it a term in the Urban Dictionary. After two billion media impressions, 1.1 million pledged HeforShes have made practical commitments, as have some of the world's leading universities and companies, to make gender equality a priority in their work and within their communities. Surprisingly though, it was during the hard moments that I made the best discoveries about what it means to be part of this movement. There is genuinely a spectrum of amazing feminists out there who have not only given me invaluable advice but also broadened my perspective and reinforced my belief that we are all linked. We all belong to a long history of people who have made sacrifices, some groups much more than others, in order to make indefinably large contributions to our modern lives.

Emma Watson And The Half Hearted Christians

We've seen seismic shifts in culture recently. I couldn't believe my eyes when I turned on the TV to see that Bud Light was pledging gender equality and equal pay as part of their current advertising campaign. We already have some amazing things happening, some amazing female leaders, but I don't know if I would have believed you if you had told me two years ago before I made my HeForShe speech that we might have the first female President of the United States—please don't let me down, America!—a female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and possibly for the first time in history, a female UN Secretary General. While women still only make up such a small percentage of political leadership, to quote the awesome Mich Obama, because of these women, girls and boys all over the world will have real-life examples that women are leaders. In the last two years if I have learned anything, if they have shown me anything, it is that nothing—nothing—is impossible. And that's why tonight, as well as saying thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done, I ask you to recommit yourselves to be a part of gender equality. I genuinely feel that we are closer to a gender equal world, certainly closer than we were two years ago, and I know that each and every HeForShe has played such a huge part in that. I am proud to have been part of lots of amazing things in my life, but there is nothing that I am prouder of than being part of this. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful night.

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at , where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at

When she's not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.

Emma Watson's Speech On Gender Equality

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Vice President Kamala Harris on One Year Post-Roe Podcast Tells History of Native Boarding Schools Yes, They Are Coming for Your Birth Control Moving Beyond Roe to Fight for Abortion EquityThis past Saturday, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson—best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films—delivered an impassioned introduction to the HeForShe campaign at the UN Headquarters in New York. Since then, Watson’s speech has received heavy circulation on social media and been hailed by the press as “powerful, ” “game-changing.”

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I couldn’t agree more. Watching Watson use her star power as a vehicle to promote global gender equality reminded me that each of us has an opportunity and responsibility to stand up for the causes we believe in, whatever those may be. By following a few basic communication guidelines, Watson showed us how to do it effectively.

She knew her audience. Watson made clear from the very beginning that her speech was intended for the men and boys who could become advocates for change. She appealed not just to their sense of right and wrong, but also to the impacts of gender inequality on men’s lives as they suffer the consequences of “being imprisoned by gender stereotypes.” She explicitly invited them to “step forward” and become part of the solution. She even went so far as to explicitly address one of the questions stirring in the back of their minds when she said “You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she doing up on stage at the UN.” The fact that she’d reflected on this question in advance demonstrated just how much thought went into crafting these remarks.

She expressed the difference between the world today and what it could be. Speakers can create powerful emotion by creating a clear contrast between “what is” today and “what could be” tomorrow. Watson did this perfectly when she called for a society where she’d be “afforded the same respect as men” (and what this would mean in terms of pay, rights, and political representation) but then pointed out that “No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.”

Emma Watson's First Speech As Un Women Goodwill Ambassador Is Huge Success

She made it personal. The best speakers know how to use stories from their own life to add emotion to the story. Watson showcased this ability when she outlined her own journey to becoming a feminist, starting with being called “bossy” for wanting to direct a play at age 8. She even admitted to her own “nervousness” about the speech towards the end. This hint of vulnerability made her seem human and relatable, important traits for any speaker to emulate.

She called for clear action. It’s not enough to make the case for change; great speakers