The Political Speechwriter's Companion - second edition
This is THE book to start with as a new political speechwriter but also to go back to as an experienced speechwriter. For this second edition, Robert Lehrman and Eric Schnure have built on their experience as chief speechwriter and speechwriter to former Vice-President Gore and as teachers mainly in the United States but also in Europe, Asia, and [...]
How to own the room - Women and the art of brilliant speaking
Pay attention to the first two words of the title: “how to”: they imply that there is a way, that you can learn. And indeed, the idea that we – women, but “they don’t have the monopoly of insecurity”, so actually everybody, really – can learn “how to be powerful in (our) speaking is at the heart of this book. Viv Groskop invites u [...]
Speeches of note
The subtitle of this anthology of speeches announces: ‘a celebration of the old, new, and unspoken’. This beautiful book is indeed a celebration, as it highlights the ethos of the speakers and presents the circumstances and the making of the speeches, providing photographs of the notes when possible. You’ll recognise well-known masterpieces a [...]
L'art de la persuasion
Just as anyone writing speeches for a European audience will benefit from reading Aristotle’s Rhetoric, anyone preparing a speech for a Chinese audience – i.e. more and more European speechwriters – will be well advised to read Guiguzi’s First treatise on rhetoric. Good news: this old Chinese classic has been translated into English. It pro [...]
Factfulness
Speakers often ask for numbers and statistic in speeches to support their message, but is quantifiable data the best idea in a speech? In a speech, ie not to be read with the eyes, on a screen or on paper, with the possibility to pause, analyze, and reflect, but heard by the ear, in a flow of words and sentences, with hardly any time or tool to p [...]
Enough said
If you want to understand how public language has evolved from ‘the founding fathers’ measured eloquence’ to ‘the ‘non-political’ political discours’; if you believe that ‘public language matters’ and that ‘in the world of politics and public policy, words are actions, and they have consequences’; if you don’t despair becaus [...]
Les grands discours parlementaires - de Mirabeau à nos jours
This collection of the greatest speeches delivered before the French Parliament over more than two centuries has not been translated into English yet. You will find other collections of great speeches delivered in or translated into English, recommended in this Bibliography section. [...]
Les grands discours de l'histoire - 3. Les Européens
This book has not been translated into English yet. For a collection of inspiring speeches (there are many), see the Bibliography section. -- Les éditions Renaissance du Livre publient les grands discours de l’histoire en cinq recueils de format poche. Après les deux premiers volumes consacrés aux dictateurs et aux orateurs de la guerre froide [...]
When they go low, we go high
Speechwriter Philip Collins presents and analyses twenty-five major speeches that have shaped the world, thereby explaining how the history of rhetoric is intrinsiquely linked to the history of democracy and matching the ambition in the subtitle ‘why we need them’. This book highlights ‘the perils of indifference’, and covers five main obje [...]
Trop de fleurs!
This short and witty book on the art of speeches only exists in French so far, unfortunately. [...]
The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches
An anthology is a must have for speechwriters who want to extend their knowledge, check a quotation or find inspiration. This 'Penguin Book of Historic speeches' is completed by the 'Penguin Book of Modern Speeches', also by Brian MacArthur. [...]
The 100 - with 10 extra speeches: Insights and lessons from 110 of the greatest speakers and speeches ever delivered
For each top 110 speeches ever delivered, Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi select a quotation, give a short biography and focus on the key lessons and legacy of the speech. A good complement to an anthology. [...]