Quotes and speeches of the month

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Summer is coming: a heat wave has affected Brussels and several places in Europe over the last few days, giving climate change a very direct and tangible feel. You will find a major plea on climate action in the speech UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivered just before the US presidency would announce their decision on the Paris Agreement.

Summer is coming, and so are a few positive events and trends in Europe. They echo in a lighter touch in some of the European speeches. Imagine … John Lennon quoted in the European Council …

Summer is coming, and hopefully for many of you, time for a break, time to read, time to get inspired. If you read French, savourez Trop de fleurs, délicieux petit discours dans lequel Jules Verne nous parle de ce qui nous anime, l’écriture de discours: léger et drôle, un régal de rhétorique au meilleur sens du terme.

Some more examples in our monthly selection of quotes on: logospathosethos.eu

This newsletter will resume after the summer. 

Isabelle

The music makes it memorable

Climate change is undeniable.

Climate action is unstoppable.

And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable.

Read the full speech here: António Guterres, on Climate action, 30 May 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

What do you remember from President elect Emmanuel Macron’s victory speech at Le Louvre, on 7 May?

I run a quick and informal poll among a few dozens people. Everyone mentioned the European anthem played as the newly elected French President walked to the podium.

And the quote most people remembered was:

« Tout le monde nous disait que c’était impossible, mais ils ne connaissaient pas la France ! » (Everyone told us it was impossible, but they did not know France). Read the full speech here: Emmanuel Macron, Victory speech, Carrousel du Louvre, 7 May 2017

For our next speech: what do we want the audience to remember?

Some more examples in our monthly selection of quotes on: logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

The illiteracy of the modern world is not the incapacity to read or write. 

The illiteracy of the modern world is the incapacity to critical thinking. 

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, Speech at Gazeta Wyborcza in Warsaw, 19 May 2017

My request to you is : how far will you go? What is the next thing? Burning books on the square in front of the Hungarian Parliament ?

Watch the full speech here : Guy Verhofstadt, Debate in the European Parliament on the situation in Hungary, 26 April 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Suspense had been at its height over the last few weeks.

From all the candidates, who would be selected?

Which speech would have the strongest impact and qualify its author for the final round?

At last, we now know who ‘exemplifies excellence in modern oral rhetoric’: the Cicero Awards were attributed and it is a real pleasure to introduce you to the Grand Award winner: find out how to combine stories that keep the audience with the speaker and build his credibility on a difficult issue; humour that triggers laughters and language that is vivid and visual; and a structure that progressively, in a subtle, yet effective way, leads to a strong call for action. 

In other words, logos, pathos, ethos at its best.

This speech, the other laureates, and our monthly selection are on http://www.logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

Simplicity:

It bothers me that declaring a simple truth is somehow so controversial. I mean, I get it. I understand why it’s controversial (...)

I can say from experience, it’s hard to get a diversity of ideas from a room full of old, white, straight, cisgender men, who all look like me and who have similar life experiences.

Read the full speech here: James Clapper, Why black lives matter to US intelligence, 4 November 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

This past month was marked by two important events: on the one hand, for all of us caring for Europe, the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome; and on the other hand, for all of us speech-fans and -friends, the selection of the best speeches for the Cicero Awards.

I have prepared this new selection, looking eagerly for how speakers (and their speechwriters) would combine the best of their art and technique to move audiences. Reading the speeches delivered by the European leaders, I have found here and there some good, unexpected, moving lines: you will find them in this selection.

But I have also read some pieces that combine all the these qualities – and many more – in a single speech : these were among the finalists of the Cicero Awards. I had the privilege to read them as a member of the panel for this international competition.

It is as is should be: that the speeches that make it to this final selection ‘exemplify excellence in modern oral rhetoric’.

It is also a source of inspiration and stimulation for all of us if we want the speeches on Europe to match the greatness of this project launched 60 years ago.

To help you in this challenge, a springboard to your skills, network and motivation is the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2017 World Conference in Washington DC next October. There is even a special discount for you with the code: "LogosPathosEthos".

In the meantime, enjoy the monthly selection on www.logospathosethos.eu 

Isabelle

The great potential of the commemorative speeches

Now is the perfect time to recall (Alcide De Gasperi’s) famous words: "The future will not be built through force, nor the desire to conquer, but by the patient application of the democratic method, the constructive spirit of agreement and by respect for freedom." Perhaps these words are not dramatic enough in the age of politics by Twitter. But I still appreciate their truth and power. I still believe they are enough to guide us from here.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, To speakers of EU Parliaments, 17 March 2017

I have to tell you, for those of you who don't know, Max van der Stoel was my political father. I worked with him for many years, when he was High Commissioner on National Minorities we travelled together to all parts of Europe for many years and he taught me everything. Sometimes a person can be lucky enough as I was to be allowed, by a giant, to stand on his shoulders.

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, Prague, 10 March 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

The best speeches delivered this last month illustrate the power of contrast and antithesis. ‘Antithesis is one of the most popular means of being quotable. It succeeds because such contrast allows you, among other things, to urge one course of action and reject another(…). It makes what (the speaker) accepts and rejects clear and easy to remember’, writes Robert Lehrman in The Political Speechwriter's Companion

Use it, but wisely, as one of the European leaders addressing the Members of the European Parliament reminds us.

For those of us who understand French, voici le lien vers une émission de radio consacrée à la rhétorique politique des présidents, de la troisième république à Barack Obama.

Find out our monthly selection on www.logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

L’Europe n'est pas une évidence. L'Europe fut et l'Europe restera un choix.

Europe is not self-evident. Europe has always been and will always be a choice.

Read the full speech here: Jean-Claude Juncker, L'Europe aujourd'hui et demain, 23 February 2017