( CNN ) -- President-elect Barack Obama 's victory speech Tuesday night compares favorably with a number of historic orations , a linguist said Thursday . Barack Obama speaks at a rally in Chicago , Illinois , after winning the presidency Tuesday night . `` His goal was to be understood by the widest possible audience during his victory speech , and he seems to have done a great job doing it , '' said Paul J.J. Payack , president of the Austin , Texas-based Global Language Monitor , which analyzed the speech for content , tone and length . `` He 's at his best communicating directly and forthrightly with this audience and using different types of rhetorical devices , '' Payack said , noting that the speech was written to a seventh- or eighth-grade level . That 's lower than the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr. 's 1963 `` I Have a Dream '' speech ( grade 8.8 ) , President Reagan 's 1987 `` Tear Down This Wall '' speech ( grade 9.8 ) and even Obama 's own 2004 Democratic Convention speech ( grade 8.3 ) , Payack said . In the four years since then , `` he has learned to speak more directly and more succinctly when he 's giving a major address , '' the word aficionado said . He spoke admiringly of Obama 's repeated use of the phrase `` Yes , we can , '' calling it `` very effective . '' `` That 's a very short , direct sentence , '' Payack said . `` Almost like a drumbeat hammering into people 's minds and hearts . '' He added , `` something like that comes across as a very effective rhetorical device . '' That phrase compares with Reagan 's `` Tear Down This Wall '' and President Kennedy 's `` Ask not what your country can do for you ; ask what you can do for your country , '' delivered in his inaugural speech . At about 2,000 words , the speech was short enough not to lose the audience 's attention but long enough to cite specifics and cover the subject matter , Payack said . Watch Obama 's victory speech » . Twelve of those words were `` hope '' or variations of the word , which indicates optimism about the change ( used nine times ) he has promised to effect . Another 23 of the words were `` will , '' another way of making the speech forward-looking . Though most of Obama 's verbs were in the active voice , 11 percent of the sentences were in the passive voice , a dependable method of deflecting responsibility , Payack said . He cited Obama 's `` There will be setbacks and false starts '' as an example . `` He 's spreading the responsibility around , '' Payack said . `` He did n't say , ' I will have setbacks . I will be wrong . I will make mistakes . ' He used the passive voice for those types of constructions . '' But the vast majority of the hopeful references were in the active voice , he said . `` It 's very personal and very active . ' I promise we , as a people , will get there . ' `` The speech was notable for what it omitted , too , Payack said . In this case , the absence of a reference to the September 11 terrorist attacks indicates a change in tone , he said . In his closing phrase , Obama repeats the mantra , `` Yes , we can , '' which serves as a call to action , an acknowledgment that the country faces hard work , Payack said . Obama is saying , `` I 'm asking you to do something big , but we can do it together , '' Payack said . `` We are the change ; we are the hope . ''
Linguist says Obama 's speech was on seventh- or eighth-grade level . That 's lower than King , Reagan speeches . Speech was optimistic and forward-looking , expert says . Lack of 9/11 reference was significant change in tone , linguist says .