Public Speaking 911 Blog

Yes, it’s always fun to hear a great political speech. But, if you’re interested in improving your powers of public speaking, they can be incredibly powerful teaching tools. You can hear what gets audiences excited, what phrases are repeated, how the speakers use their emotions and vary their voices.

Here are a couple books and DVDs you might want to check out which can help you better learn from the best political speakers in American history. Many of the speakers are way before your time, but the elements of great speaking haven’t changed much. Well, okay, maybe William Jennings Bryan didn’t have a teleprompter to help him, but he had his voice and his words. And, if you can move an audience with your voice and your words, you’re way ahead of the game.

“American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton” is edited by Ted Widmer and contains the unabridged texts of 83 dramatic speeches delivered by 45 American public figures between 1865 and 1997. It begins with Abraham Lincoln’s last speech on Reconstruction and ends with Bill Clinton’s tribute to the Little Rock Nine. In between you’ll be treated to some masterful oratory by:

• Thaddeus Stevens on Reconstruction
• Robert Brown Elliott on Reconstruction
• Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln
• Oliver Wendell Holmes giving a Memorial Day Address
• William Jennings Bryan giving a convention speech
• Teddy Roosevelt on imperialism
• Ida B. Wels on the cruelty of lynching
• Susan B. Anthony on the enfranchisement of women
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the enfranchisement of women
• J. Robert Oppenheimer on the atomic bomb
• George Patton giving a wartime speech
• Barry Goldwater’s speech to the 1964 Republican Convention

There are also assorted speeches by Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.

 Another collection of speeches you might also want to check out is “Early American Political Speech: A Collection of Rare Recordings of Speeches of American Politicians.” This DVD are actual recordings from 1908 to 1920, which feature political speeches by:

• William Howard Taft
• William Jennings Bryan
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Samuel Gompers
• Henry Cabot Lodge
• Calvin Coolidge
• Champ Clark
• James M. Cox
• Warren G. Harding

A few of these names may not ring a bell to you, but they were the dynamic political figures of their time. Hear what moved people back in the early 1900s. Sure, some of the ideas may not be electrifying today, but the way they delivered the speeches can be a great learning tool for anyone who is interested in learning to speak persuasively.