When analyzing a speech, what should be your first step?

A. Examine the figurative language the speaker uses.

B. Consider the speaker's personal biases.

C. Identify the speaker's main argument.

D. Determine who is speaking.

I think the first step would be D. Determine who is speaking. Speeches are applied rhetoric, which means they have a speaker, a goal that he/she wants to fulfil with the speech, a context (time, place). It is not the same if a speech is being given by Martin Luther King and the president of America, for example. Knowing who the speaker is will provide us with the necessary knowledge that is required to apprehend the speech and its messages, as well as the speaker's intentions.

The answer is C. Once you analyze the speakers main argument, you get a better understanding of the rest of the speech.