Great Speeches

After finishing a Smithsonian-sponsored expedition to East Africa, US President Theodore Roosevelt stopped by Paris and gave a speech about the responsibilities an ordinary citizen has to their republic. Citizens must know there is no effort without error, knowing they "fail while daring greatly" in pursuit of a truly democratic republic. This podcast series on powerful speeches across history is written and narrated by historian and author Jon Meacham.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, wrote his famed Gettysburg Address on a train car. Actually, he had a version of it ready a few days before. Well, really, he came up with it on the spot. Rumors about the speech's creation abound. This 1909 article walks readers through evidence Lincoln's speech was carefully planned and written in Washington, DC (in pencil).

What compels an audience shifts over time, meaning yesterday's popular speeches might not go over the same way if delivered today. However, impactful campaign speeches across time share some qualities, including taking the audience seriously, inviting listeners to engage with or respond to presented materials, and using everyday, informal language. Additionally, US political candidates typically promote themselves in their speeches, an approach initially considered vulgar in Australia and Britain.

Before walking onto a stage or booting up a Zoom meeting to deliver a speech or presentation, you have to know what story you want to tell. This story acts as a keystone, providing an ideological foundation on which the rest of the speech balances. This story should be bigger than the moment it's delivered, giving listeners the ability to connect to expressed concepts across time.

One of seven antiapartheid activists charged with sabotage and tried in a racially segregated courtroom, Nelson Mandela showed up to court wearing traditional Xhosa attire and delivered an hourslong address against racial domination. Nelson said he hoped to live to see realized his ideal of a democratic and free society—"But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was still drafting his August 28, 1963, speech the night before he was set to speak to more than 250,000 people at a demonstration in Washington, DC. As he delivered his speech, a cry from his favorite gospel singer to “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin" prompted King to push aside his prepared remarks and rely on his established refrain.

Like many practices handed down throughout the ages, the ability to enrapture audiences through oration is an art. And, like all arts, that means anyone can learn to do it well through practice. The first step to a good speech? Paying attention to the audience. Knowing the intended listeners of a speech and their expectations provides insights on how to connect with them.

On Sept. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy set forth this argument for the effort to land humans on the moon’s surface, casting the Apollo mission in terms of historic human ambitions.

After NASA’s Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity’s fragility and the responsibility to protect "the only world we’ve ever known."

In the spring of 2000, famous late night talk show host and comedian Conan O'Brien gave a hilarious, thoughtful speech to the graduating class at Harvard, where he graduated from in 1985. The speech has been noted ever since as a classic example of both wisdom and foolishness. Watch the 20-minute video here.