The coronavirus chronicles: Great speeches, Great speakers
IN last week’s column, we talked about how now is the best time to build up on one’s speaking skills as in recent times everyone has become a speaker of sorts at least digitally through Zoom meetings, podcasts, or even simply posting online.
We got a little help from Katie Burke who shared with us 4 Public Speaking Tips Every Leader Needs to Hear from Inc.com. At the same time, we can also learn a lot from great speakers, whose works can inspire us with their mastery of language and timeless messages.
Steven John listed what may be considered The Top 10 Greatest Speeches that Stand the Test of time in The Manual. These are, he says, great speeches that “transcend time and place, offering wisdom that speaks to every era.”
There is much we can learn from them today as speakers and communicators.
■ Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech,” 1963 Why it’s a great speech:
John considers the Reverend Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech “one of the finest pieces of oratory in human history.” One of the defining moments of the US Civil Rights movement, “it blended masterful, rich language with the oratorical technique of repetition and it was utterly fearless.”
Unforgettable lines:
“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed ‘that all men are created equal’...
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
■ Demosthenes’ Third Philippic, 341 BCE Why it’s a great speech:
Demosthenes was a magisterial wordsmith and his Third Philippic, the third speech he gave persuading his fellow Athenians to take up arms against the approaching forces of Philip of Macedon, literally led men to war. At the end of his speech, John says that the “Athenian assembly moved at once against their rival.”
Unforgettable lines:
“You are in your present plight because you do not do any part of your duty, small or great . . . As it is, Philip has conquered your indolence and your indifference; but he has not conquered Athens. You have not been vanquished, you have never even stirred.”
■ Queen Elizabeth I’s Spanish Armada Speech, 1588 Why it’s a great speech:
The mighty Spanish Armada, a flotilla of some 130 ships, sailed towards Britain with plans of invasion, prompting the queen to deliver a rousing address at Tilbury, Essex, England. As it turned out, a storm and some navigational errors took care of the Spanish warships instead. Still, John says “it was a bold speech that helped bolster a nation, also made famous by Queen Elizabeth’s attire: she is said to have worn armor in front of her troops.”
Unforgettable lines:
“I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst of the heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my god, and for my kingdom, and my people, my honor and my blood, even in the dust. I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too.”
■ George Washington’s Resignation Speech, 1783 Why it’s a great speech:
It reveals that despite his all power and accomplishments, George Washington was a staid and humble man. He was never hungry for power for himself; he just happened to be the best man for the job. It was all about America and not about himself.
“To grasp the true power of George Washington’s resignation as the commander in chief of the American military, you have to go beyond the words and appreciate the context,” says John. “General Washington was in no way obliged to resign his commission, but did so willingly and even gladly.”
Unforgettable lines:
“Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with the satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence. A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task which however was superseded by a confidence on the rectitude of our cause, the support of the Supreme Power of the Union and the patronage of Heaven.”
■ Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 1863 Why it’s a great speech:
Many people consider Lincoln’s Gettysburg address to be the best speech in American history, and John weighs in on it. “In just 275 words, President Abraham Lincoln managed to express that 1) America is both a place and a concept, for which both are worth fighting; 2) “Fighting is horrible, but losing is worse; and we have no intention of losing,” he says. With that, “the world will never forget his brief, shining address.”
Unforgettable lines:
“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
■ Chief Joseph’s Surrender Speech, 1877 Why it’s a great speech:
Overtaken by the United States Army during a desperate multiweek retreat towards Canada, Chief Joseph surrendered to General Howard with this bleak moving message. It’s a wrenching speech that many see as the final death knell of the way of life for the Native Americans.
Unforgettable lines:
“I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. The old men are all dead. He who led the young men are dead. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills, have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are—perhaps freezing to death.”
“I want to have time to look for my children, and see how many of them I can still find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”
■ Lou Gehrig’s Luckiest Man Speech, 1939 Why it’s a great speech:
Baseball legend Lou Gehrig, who died at 37 after a brief battle with ALS, delivered one of the most touching speeches of the 20th century, in which he brought comfort to those mourning his illness even as his health fell apart.
In essence, John says, “he told people not to worry about one dying man, but instead to celebrate all life has to offer. He went on to list all the wonderful things in his life. In doing so, he brought solace to many and created a model of selflessness.”
Unforgettable lines:
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans . . .”
“So I close in saying I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for.”
■ Winston Churchill’s, “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech, 1940 Why it’s a great speech:
British statesman Winston Churchill was an excellent wordsmith—he created the term “Iron Curtain” in a 1946 address to describe the boundary of Britain’s recent ally, the Soviet Union. Earlier in 1940, he praised the heroism of the British Royal Air Force with the line, “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”
John says that the “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech which he delivered to the British House of Commons in 1940 “were more than just words—these were a promise to his nation that they were all in the fight together.”
Unforgettable lines:
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and the oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
■ John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, 1961 Why it’s a great speech:
John describes the speech as “well written and meaningful . . . with one perfect phrase. Amidst an address filled with both hope and dire warnings he issued a direct appeal to Americans everywhere to stand up for their country.”
Unforgettable lines:
“And so my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but together what we can do for the freedom of man.”
■ Barrack Obama’s Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, 2004 Why it’s a great speech:
Obama’s keynote address transformed him from an up-and-coming politician from Illinois into a national figure and paved the way for his historic journey to the White House.
John says that the 17-minute speech so moved the country partly because of its excellent writing which he himself handled, as well as the “message of the speech which spoke to the ‘abiding faith in the possibilities of the nation.’”
Unforgettable lines:
“There’s not a liberal America and conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America...
“We are one people, all of us pledging alliance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. In the end, that’s what this election is all about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.