A speech is poetry: cadence, rhythm, imagery, sweep! A speech reminds us that words, like children, have the power to make dance the dullest beanbag of a heart. Peggy Noonan
Speak when you are angry – and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret. Laurence J Peter
A speech is like a love affair. Any fool can start it, but to end it requires considerable skill. Lord Mansfield
He has devoted the best years of his life to preparing his impromptu speeches. F E Smith (on Churchill)
There is but one pleasure in life equal to that of being called on to make an after-dinner speech, and that is not being called on to make one. Charles Dudley Warner
In making a speech one must study three points: first, the means of producing persuasion; second, the language; third the proper arrangement of the various parts of the speech. Aristotle.
In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. George Orwell
Great speeches have always had great soundbites. The problem now is that the young technicians who put together speeches are paying attention only to the soundbite, not to the text as a whole, not realizing that all great soundbites happen by accident, which is to say, all great soundbites are yielded up inevitably, as part of the natural expression of the text. They are part of the tapestry, they aren’t a little flower somebody sewed on. Peggy Noonan
Churchill wrote his own speeches. When a leader does that, he becomes emotionally invested with his utterances. If Churchill had had a speech writer in 1940, Britain would be speaking German today. James C Humes
Never write down your speeches beforehand; if you do, you may perhaps be a good declaimer, but will never be a debater. Lord Chesterfield
Brevity is the best recommendation of a speech, not only in the case of a senator, but in that, too, of an orator. Cicero
Be sincere; be brief; be seated. Franklin D Roosevelt
If a man is a fool, the best thing to do is to encourage him to advertise the fact by speaking. Woodrow Wilson
I’ve never thought my speeches were too long – I’ve enjoyed all of them. Hubert Humphrey