Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2022

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Welcome to this website devoted to the art of speeches for European leaders and speakers.

Looking for a book that will help you to write and deliver speeches to European audiences? Go to the Bibliography section with speechwriting must-reads as well as the latest books I recommend. 

Looking for examples of best lines and best speeches from European leaders? Look at the monthly newsletters from 2015 to 2020. They offer a wealth of examples how to win hearts and minds.

I have stopped this monthly monitoring to dedicate more time on a research project, currently in the making, while continuing to write speeches for, advise and train European leaders and speakers who want to speak with impact. More news on this project as soon as it is ready: watch this space.

In the meantime, best wishes, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle

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Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2021

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

The year 2021 marks my tenth year in the world of speeches and speechwriting. From speechwriter to trainer, from writing speeches for leaders to coaching them to deliver at their best, from helping introvert men to advising confident women (and vice versa), I have learnt so much on so many accounts that I am preparing now how to best share this wealth of knowledge and skills with all of you interested in delivering good speeches – in other words, speaking with impact.

This website will soon evolve: watch this space.

In the meantime, best wishes for 2021, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle

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Logos Pathos Ethos, March 2020

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

In March 2016, I launched this website devoted to the art of speeches in Europe today. For four years, Logos, pathos, ethos read, analyzed and selected the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical tips, with the objectives to help speakers and speechwriters to find inspiration or useful techniques to defend their ideas.

What better way to celebrate the fourth anniversary than to … go back to full-time speechwriting for a European leader, enriched with this experience? 

I am now working as speechwriter to the President of the European Commission.

As I cannot be judge and jury, the monthly newsletter is suspended, but you still have access to the selection of quotes, newsletters, and to the bibliography section on this website.

Thank you to all the readers who have shared their support, ideas and recommendations over the years. 

Best wishes, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle


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Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2020

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

 

The European political cycle is in full speed now. What kind of speeches do we need?

You’ll find below the answers by two major European leaders and, by clicking under ‘Read more’ below, a series of good quotes and speeches delivered this past month.

Enjoy also the special literary bonus.

 

A reminder to speechwriters who want to see their work rewarded: this week is the last week to benefit from the early-bird tariff to enter your speeches in the Cicero awards. More here.

 

Best wishes, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

 

A language everyone can understand

We will try to talk in a language that everyone can understand. And we will listen, too, and hear people’s concerns.

Read the full speech here: Christine Lagarde, Frankfurt and Europe in a new decade, 16 January 2020

 

Nice speeches won’t do – Great, smart, powerful speeches can

Epic geopolitical tensions, the climate crisis, global mistrust and the downsides of technology can jeopardize every aspect of our shared future. That is why commemorating the 75th anniversary with nice speeches won’t do.

 

See also smart and effective signposting with the “four horsemen” recurring theme

Today I want to speak to you in stark and simple terms about the challenges we face.

I see “four horsemen” in our midst — four looming threats that endanger 21st-century progress and imperil 21st-century possibilities.

The first horseman comes in the form of the highest global geostrategic tensions we have witnessed in years.

And after describing these four challenges – or horsemen:

We must address these four 21st-century challenges with four 21st-century solutions.

Let me take each in turn.

First, peace and security, that I mentioned. There are some signs of hope.

Read the full speech here: António Guterres, Remarks to the General Assembly on the Secretary-General's priorities for 2020, 22 January 2020

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Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2020

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Happy New Year to you all, long-time subscribers and new readers.

The year 2020 has started well with a rich selection of great quotes and speeches delivered this past month. Whether on European politics or on global warming, to close the year 2019 or inaugurate a new mandate, speechwriters and speakers have combined unexpected questions, fresh lines, strong metaphors, powerful quotes, wise thoughts, and care for the audience to meet their objective: get their message across. 

Hats off to the speakers and speechwriters who have made it to this monthly selection already during their first month in office!

You’ll find these best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical devices below and many more under Read more. 

Best wishes, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Whom do you quote?

Institutions matter. “They give legitimacy and ensure continuity,” as Jean Monnet rightly said. They matter because they expand our capacity to act.  They are a reflection of what we stand for.

Read the full speech here: Charles Michel, Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty, 18 December 2019

 

What to do with annual speeches?

(English translation below)

Erinnern Sie sich noch? Vor genau zwölf Monaten hatte ich einen Weihnachtswunsch an Sie: "Sprechen Sie auch mal mit Menschen, die anderer Meinung sind."

Lesen Sie die ganze Rede: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Weihnachtsansprache 2019 Schloss Bellevue, 25. Dezember 2019

Do you remember what I said last year? Twelve months ago I told you my Christmas request.

I asked you to talk to people who do not agree with you.

Today I want to ask you how that went. What debates and discussions have had a particular impact on you this year?

Read the full speech here: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Christmas message 2019, 25 December 2019


Writers and storytellers, here's the quest

Today our problem lies—it seems—in the fact that we do not yet have ready narratives not only for the future, but even for a concrete now, for the ultra-rapid transformations of today’s world. We lack the language, we lack the points of view, the metaphors, the myths and new fables. 

Read the full speech here (available in English, Swedish, and Polish): Olga Tokarczuk, Nobel prize in literature, Nobel lecture, 7 December 2019

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

A new European Commission and a new President of the European Council are starting their mandate. To succeed, they will need to deliver great speeches. 

Whether a speaker or speechwriter, you will find inspiration in the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical devices delivered this past month below and under 'Read more'.

You will learn ‘how to own the room’: the Bibliography section is updated with ‘How to own the room – women and the art of brilliant speaking’ by Viv Groskop and her podcast: How to own the room offers, on the same fun and lively tone, useful takeaways from interviews with a series of powerful female speakers.

You will also get a masterclass with Andrew Imbrie, speechwriter to former Secretary of State John Kerry. In this podcast, Andrew Imbrie shares most valuable lessons from his experience on how to build a relationship with the speaker, the ultimate objective of a speech, the most important question, how to address different audiences, etc., including specific guidance for European speechwriters and speakers. 

With this, you’re equipped to start your work!

So, best wishes, 

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

It’s the unity, stupid (*)

In my office of the President of the European Council, I keep a self-made poster with the inscription "It's the unity, stupid". I made it to always remember what is most important. And I will leave it there, just in case.

Read the full speech with 17 occurrences of ‘unity’ here: Donald Tusk, Opening ceremony of the 2019/2020 academic year at the College of Europe, 13 November 2019

(*) For our readers not familiar with this reference to the 1992 Clinton’s campaign ‘The economy, Stupid’: 

‘Our campaign needed to be more effective (…). We needed much better coordination among all the forces, with a single strategic center. James Carville took it on (…). Carville put a sign on the wall as a constant reminded of what the campaign was about. It had just three lines: Change vs. More of the same – The economy stupid – Don’t forget health care.’

Bill Clinton, My life, Arrow books, 2005, p. 425. 

 

Whom do you quote?

There is one quote from the great Václav Havel – one of the heroes of 1989 – that stands out for me when I look ahead to the future. He said:

“Work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”

I choose this quote, because over the next five years, our Union will embark together on a transformation which will touch every part of our society and of our economy. And we will do it, because it is the right thing to do. Not because it will be easy.

Read or watch the full speech here, with interpretation in 23 official languages: Ursula von der Leyen, Presentation of the College of Commissioners and their programme, 27 November 2019

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Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

As European leaders in office for the 2014-2019 period were ending their mandates and their successors were getting ready, speeches delivered this past October focused mainly on achievements and lessons learnt. 

The President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, used the end of his term as “an opportunity to look beyond the cut and thrust of current events and to reflect on the past, trusting that the experiences we have had and the lessons we have learned, may be useful for others”.

You’ll find a selection of quotes from speeches delivered by the outgoing Presidents of the European Central Bank, European Council, and European Commission below, and under ‘Read more’.

I am just back from the 2019 Professional Speechwriters Association’s World Conference and I am amazed, once again, and year after year, by how much we learn, how deep we connect, how motivated we come back from this unique gathering. 

What better way to keep up this spirit than read the brand new second edition of ‘The political speechwriter’s companion’ by Robert Lehrman and Eric Schnure? I review and recommend the book in the Bibliography section.

Looking forward to seeing many of the Brussels-based readers of this newsletter at Eric Schnure’s booktalk this week. 

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

www.logospathosethos.eu

 

Ethos

Combined with simple and elegant structure (three qualities), building a bridge toward the audience, quotes, and other rhetorical devices

In a few weeks, I will come to the end of my term as President of the European Central Bank. Such occasions provide an opportunity to look beyond the cut and thrust of current events and to reflect on the past, trusting that the experiences we have had and the lessons we have learned, may be useful for others (…).

Today, I would like to focus on three qualities that often appear to inform what we think of as good decision-making: knowledge, courage and humility.

Read the full speech here: Mario Draghi, Acceptance speech for the Laurea Honoris Causa from the Università Cattolica, 11 October 2019

 

Ethos

here as well combined with simple and elegant structure (three reasons for gratitude), building a bridge toward the audience, personal anecdotes, storytelling, quotes, and other rhetorical devices

This may perhaps be the greatest challenge of our times – how to make out of politics what it once was: acting and thinking for the common good.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, Athens Democracy Forum 2019, 9 October 2019

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Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

What has been the leading theme in the speeches delivered this past month?

In these weeks of transition in the European institutions, as Commissioners-designate have been preparing their hearings before the European Parliament this week and next, the highlight has been the Climate Summit in the United Nations. Although the United Nations Secretary General announced ‘the ticket to entry is not a beautiful speech, but concrete action’, we heard some powerful speeches. 

So, climate. Our planet.

What do people remember from the speeches they have heard, and in this case from late President Jacques Chirac as France marks a day of national mourning on the occasion of his death last Thursday? In terms of speeches and quotes, these words delivered at the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 come on and on, in France and abroad: "Notre maison brule, et nous regardons ailleurs" – "Our house is burning down and we're blind to it". 

So, climate. Our planet. Again.

Want to learn more about speechwriting and speeches? Eric Schnure, co-author of the the just released second edition of the Political Speechwriters Companion is coming to Brussels early November. To know more about the different events and the conversation I will have with him – and hopefully many of you ! – save this date: Tuesday 5 November 1.30 pm. More detail for our European-based readers will follow – or contact me directly. Eric began his career in 1993 as a speechwriter for Vice-President Al Gore. 

So, expect stories on speeches on Climate. And our planet. Again and again.

Last but certainly not least : I’m heading to Washington DC for the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2019 World Conference on 21 to 23 October. Looking forward to learning, getting inspired, and seeing many of you there.

You’ll find the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical devices below, and under ‘Read more’.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

www.logospathosethos.eu

 

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Start with a ‘bang’

Nature is angry.  

And we fool ourselves if we think we can fool nature. 

Read the full speech here: António Guterres, Remarks at 2019 Climate Action Summit, 23 September 2019

 

Burning forests are a tragedy no matter where they happen and no matter their scale. A tree needs many years to grow, but only few minutes to burn. We seem to know this, but we needed a shock, the shock of the Amazon rain forest fires to awaken ourselves from our lethargy. 

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, meeting on the action for the Amazon, 3 September 2019

 

"Notre maison brule, et nous regardons ailleurs". ("Our house is burning down and we're blind to it."). 

Jacques Chirac, World Summit in Johannesburg, 2 September 2002

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Two main themes mark the speeches delivered this summer: 

- buiding the speaker’s ethos. We see this in new European leaders introducing themselves as they are preparing for their mandates and taking office. 

- And raising the alarm on global warming. This issue is in so many speeches. The challenge is to find the words and craft the speeches the situation is calling for : simple, clear, compelling so as to move from promises to action.

You’ll find the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical devices below, under ‘Read more’.

To accompany and inspire you as you get back to work, what better advice than starting every day with a speech of note? The anthology ‘Speeches of note’ is all you need and you’ll find the details in the Bibliography section (the English version is already published ; the French translation is announced for next month).

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

 

How European leaders build their ethos

I- European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen

(English translation below)

(The opening was delivered in French)

Il y a exactement 40 ans, la première présidente du Parlement européen, Simone Veil, est élue et présente sa vision d’une Europe plus unie et plus juste.

C’est grâce à elle, et à toutes les autres icônes européennes, que je vous présente aujourd’hui ma vision de l’Europe.

Et 40 ans plus tard, c’est avec une grande fierté que je peux dire : C’est finalement une femme qui est la candidate à la présidence de la Commission européenne.

Je le suis grâce à tous ceux et toutes celles qui ont brisé les barrières et les conventions. Je le suis grâce à tous ceux et toutes celles qui ont construit une Europe de paix, une Europe unie, une Europe des valeurs.

C’est cette conviction européenne qui m'a guidée tout au long de ma vie et de ma carrière - en tant que mère, en tant que médecin et en tant que femme politique.

C’est ce courage et cette audace des pionnières comme Simone Veil qui est au cœur de ma vision d’Europe.

Et ce sera cet esprit qui guidera la Commission européenne que j'ai l'intention de présider.

Read the full speech : Ursula von der Leyen, Opening Statement in the European Parliament Plenary Session, delivered in French, German and English, 16 July 2019

 English translation :

Exactly 40 years ago, Simone Veil was elected as the first female President of the European Parliament and set out her vision for a fairer and more united Europe.

It is thanks to her, and to all the other European icons, that I am presenting my vision of Europe to you today.

And 40 years later, I can say with great pride that we finally have a female candidate for European Commission President.

I am that candidate thanks to all the men and women who have broken down barriers and defied convention. I am that candidate thanks to all the men and women who built a Europe of peace, a united Europe, a Europe of values.

It is this belief in Europe that has guided me throughout my life and my career — as a mother, as a doctor and as a politician.

It is the courage and daring of pioneers such as Simone Veil that are at the heart of my vision for Europe.

And it is my intention to lead the European Commission in that same spirit.

Read the full speech translated in 24 official languages

 

II - President of the European Parliament David Maria Sassoli

(To watch it in your language, see below.)

(Traduction en français ci-dessous.)

Io sono figlio di un uomo che a 20 anni ha combattuto contro altri europei, e di una mamma che, anche lei ventenne, ha lasciato la propria casa e ha trovato rifugio presso altre famiglie.

Io so che questa è la storia anche di tante vostre famiglie... e so anche che se mettessimo in comune le nostre storie e ce le raccontassimo davanti ad un bicchiere di birra o di vino, non diremmo mai che siamo figli o nipoti di un incidente della Storia.

Ma diremmo che la nostra storia è scritta sul dolore, sul sangue dei giovani britannici sterminati sulle spiagge della Normandia, sul desiderio di libertà di Sophie e Hans Scholl, sull’ansia di giustizia degli eroi del Ghetto di Varsavia, sulle primavere represse con i carri armati nei nostri paesi dell’Est, sul desiderio di fraternità che ritroviamo ogni qual volta la coscienza morale impone di non rinunciare alla propria umanità e l’obbedienza non può considerarsi virtù.

Watch the full speech here: David Sassoli, acceptance speech as newly elected President of the European Parliament, 3 July 2019

Read the full speech here.

Je suis le fils d’un homme qui, à 20 ans, s’est battu contre d’autres Européens et d’une mère qui, elle aussi à 20 ans, a quitté les siens pour trouver refuge auprès d’autres familles. 

Je sais que cette histoire est aussi l’histoire de beaucoup de vos familles … et que si nous nous racontons nos histoires autour d’un verre, nous ne considérons jamais que nous sommes le fruit d’un accident de l’Histoire. Bien au contraire, nous considérons que notre Histoire est une histoire marquée par la souffrance, par le sang de ces jeunes Britanniques qui ont été tués sur les plages de Normandie, par le désir de liberté de Sophie et Hans Scholl, par la soif de justice des héros du ghetto de Varsovie, par le printemps réprimé par les chars dans les pays de l’Est, par le désir de fraternité que nous devons reconnaître chaque fois que la conscience morale impose de ne pas renoncer à l’humanité et que l’obéissance ne peut être considérée comme une vertu.

Interpretation available in English, French, German… (you can choose from the 24 official languages) here, starting at 13.06.

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Logos Pathos Ethos, July 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

On the eve of a new five-year term for the European Parliament, European Commission, and other major positions in Europe, here’s our monthly selection of the best quotes and speeches for inspiration.

In these important times for the European project, it’s all the more an honour and pleasure to see every month new speech-fans and -friends registering for this newsletter, both European institutions insiders and citizens caring for words and quotes to express their ideas in a powerful way. Welcome and thank you for your trust. 

You’ll find the best quotes, speeches, and rhetorical devices below, under ‘Read more’.

Make the most of this summer to get inspiration, read good speeches and books (see the Bibliography section), listen to good stories, and prepare for new challenges. 

See you in September.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Advice to a newly elected European Parliament

(English below)

Comme il est naturel et normal dans une assemblée démocratique telle que la nôtre, nous divergeons par les programmes que nous souhaitons mettre en oeuvre, par les idées que nous voulons défendre et même quant à notre propre rôle.

Gardons-nous cependant du travers qui nous conduirait à faire de notre Assemblée le forum des divisions et des rivalités. Trop souvent déjà, les Communautés européennes donnent à nos opinions publiques l’image d’institutions bloquées, incapables de parvenir dans les délais nécessaires à des décisions.

Notre Parlement aura pleinement satisfait les espoirs qu’il a fait naître si, loin d’être le lieu de résonance des divisions internes de l’Europe, il parvient à exprimer et à faire percevoir par la Communauté l’élan de solidarité si nécessaire aujourd’hui.

Lire le discours complet de Simone Veil, à l’occasion de son élection comme première Présidente du Parlement européen, 17 juillet 1979

As is only natural and normal in a democratic assembly such as ours, we differ on the programmes which we

wish to implement, on the ideas which we wish to advocate and even on the very role we are to play.

Let us, however, avoid the error of turning our Assembly into a forum for rivalry and dissent. Too often in the past, public opinion in our countries has gained the impression that the European Communities are hamstrung institutions, incapable of reaching decisions within the necessary time-limits.

Our Parliament will entirely fulfil the hopes which it has raised if, far from being the sounding-board for the internal divisions of Europe, it succeeds in articulating and bringing home to the Community the spirit of solidarity that is so necessary today.

Read the full speech here : Simone Veil, on her election as First President of the European Parliament, 17 July 1979

 

The value of a speech

One of the great powers and responsibilities of being a central banker is that you can move markets with a single line in a speech. Every word counts a billion. And this is why I always admire Mario's speeches, which are priceless pieces of art.

Telling the story of the euro

Allow me to tell you the story of the euro (…) As every European success story, it is full of crises and lessons learned (…).

And the speech comes full circle :

These six moments, these six examples are all examples of crises. But every time we have been challenged, we have found solutions and even surprised ourselves with what we can achieve. This is a fitting way to tell the story of European construction.

For a series of surprises and lessons learnt, from the British statesman who wanted his grandchildren to be able to pay in euro to the military asked to burn banknotes :

Read the full speech here: Jean-Claude Juncker, celebrating 20 years of the Economic and Monetary Union, 'Building the euro: moments in time, lessons in history, 19 June 2019

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, June 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

This past month has been extremely rich, with the European elections campaign inviting European leaders to translate their ideas into words and their platforms into speeches: several speakers came up with vibrant definitions of political debate and poignant pleas for democracy.

But May is also a special month in the European annual calendar: a month of commemoration (from the end of the Second World War to the Schuman declaration on May 9) and a month of celebration (from the State of the Union in the European University Institute in Florence to the International Charlemagne Prize for the Unity of Europe, in Aachen). These occasions compelled several European leaders to express what Europe - and the European way - is about.

Find out the best quotes, recurring themes, and rhetorical devices below. 

We will all need this inspiration at the dawn of a new five-year mandate. 

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Speeches to comemorate – aka epideictic speeches 

The beginning of the month of May is also metaphorically the time of year when we start to reflect. 1 May is Labour Day, when we remember that in 1890 we fought for the eight-hour working day. On 2 May, we remember the victims of the Holocaust, and on 4 May, we remember the victims of war in the Netherlands. On 5 May, we celebrate the Liberation. On 9 May, we celebrate European unification, which, for me, remains the most successful response to the tendency toward self-destruction which we Europeans have often displayed.

It is always difficult to keep these commemorations fresh. This today is one of the most inspiring initiatives – for which I thank you – which challenge us to reflect and discuss, not merely to engage in sterile commemoration. So much seems self-evident today. It is our responsibility to keep commemorations fresh in order to pass on the message and promise to our children and grandchildren too.

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, Annual reflection on the eve of 4 May, the National Day of Remembrance in the Netherlands, 3 May 2019

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Logos Pathos Ethos, May 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

With just four weeks to go before the European elections, this newsletter gathers the best quotes and speeches to speak about Europe today. 

With several days off in May, you’ll have time to read the short yet most enlightening Chinese classic Treatise on rhetoric, just translated into French this spring – an English annotated translation already available since 2016. See the Bibliography section.

And the Best of the 2019 Cicero speechwriting awards has just been published. You can indulge yourself with one Cicero Award speech a day until the results of the election. I draw your attention to two of them especially: if you want to be energised, the Grand Award: Go boldly. If you want to be moved and read excellence in contemporary European rhetoric, a commemorative speech written by a fellow European speechwriter delivered just one year ago, early May 2018: Never be a bystander.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

www.logospathosethos.eu

 

Leadership

Today is no time for regrets. The world is fast outpacing Europe.

Europe cannot remain obsessed by the past, when the rest of the world is looking to the future.

It’s time to step up. What we do not do for Europe, nobody will do in our place.

Read the full speech here: Michel Barnier, European Policy Centre Breakfast, 1 April 2019

 

Ce que nous avons vu cette nuit ensemble à Paris c’est cette capacité de nous mobiliser, nous unir pour vaincre. Au cours de notre histoire, nous avons bâti des villes, des ports, des églises. Beaucoup ont brûlé ou ont été détruites par les guerres, les révolutions ou les fautes des hommes. A chaque fois, à chaque fois, nous les avons reconstruites.

Retrouvez le discours entier ici : Emmanuel Macron, Adresse à la nation au lendemain de l’incendie de Notre-Dame de Paris, 16 avril 2019

 

From this place [Strasbourg, France], I would like to say words of comfort and solidarity with the whole French nation in the face of the Paris tragedy. I say these words not only as the president of the European Council, but also as a citizen of Gdańsk, 90 percent destroyed and burnt, and later rebuilt. You will also rebuild your cathedral. 

From Strasbourg, the French capital of the European Union, I call on all the 28 Member States to take part in this task. I know that France could do it alone, but at stake here is something more than just material help. 

The burning of the Notre Dame cathedral has again made us aware that we are bound by something more important and more profound than Treaties. Today we understand better the essence of that, which is common, we know how much we can lose. And that we want to defend it – together.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, to the European Parliament, 10 April

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Logos Pathos Ethos, April 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

With the European elections in just two months, it is topical that this month’s harvest offers a selection of speeches with a special focus on building a rapport with the audience. You’ll find your monthly selection of the best speeches and quotes below.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Building a rapport with this audience, in this place, for this event

- Here in Lund, Sweden

In 1962, before many of us were even born, a young law graduate from the United States arrived here in Lund. The topic of her studies – civil procedure in Sweden – wasn’t one that seemed likely to change the world. And yet the things that Ruth Bader Ginsburg saw here in Sweden really did end up changing the lives of millions of women. 

Read the full speech here: Margrethe Vestager, Dealing with power in a brave new world: economy, technology and human rights, Anna Lindh Lecture, Lund, 18 March 2019

 

- Here in Berlin, Germany

I was born in the year that the Berlin wall was built. Our son Marc was born in the year the Berlin wall came down. Our son Max was born in the year 2004, when Europe became one and whole again by the enlargement with the Central and Eastern European countries. I say this because for a global audience this perhaps seems to be just a bit of history, but for me it is my life.

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, Global Solutions Summit, 18 March 2019 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, March 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

How to organise ideas and assemble words so that the speech achieves something: bond with the audience, make sense out of the flow of events, and call to action?

With the Brexit deadline in just one month and climate change’s awareness growing and growing, great speeches are not only welcome; they are necessary. You’ll find a selection of the best speeches and quotes below.

For our French-speaking readers, je vous signale, dans le numéro de Sciences humaines du mois de mars 2019, un dossier spécial sur l’art de parler: une introduction générale à cette discipline riche de 25 siècles et un rappel de son importance et de son intérêt, à l’heure où elle revient dans les programmes scolaires.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Logos, pathos and ethos combined

Ladies and gentlemen, I have five grandchildren. Four of them are in primary school. The youngest is only one year old.

Perhaps that’s why the following story struck such a particular chord. I was reading a BBC article about the recent climate demonstrations here in Belgium. Groups of primary schoolchildren were marching with their grandparents. One child held up a hand-written sign. It said: “2080: what are polar bears?”

Karmenu Vella, High-level conference on climate change and oceans preservation, 19 February 2019

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Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

With the Brexit deadline in just two months and no deal voted yet, 

with our planet hotter than ever, science to make it clear and more and more people mobilising, 

and with the crucial European elections in just four months,

there’s a sense of urgency in the speeches delivered this past month.

Edward R. Murrow’s words – introducing Churchill’s impact at another time of urgency in our history - come to mind:

“Now the hour had come for him to mobilize the English language, and send it into battle, a spearhead of hope for Britain and the world”.

You’ll find sharp spearheads below. 

Read them, urgently! 

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Urgency

Adults keep saying: ‘We owe it to the young people to give them hope’. 

But I don’t want your hope. 

I don’t want you to be hopeful. 

I want you to panic. 

I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. 

And then I want you to act. 

I want you to act as if you were in a crisis. 

I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is.

Greta Thunberg, Our house is on fire, 25 January 2019

 

Urgency and leadership

It is 16 January today. We are only 10 weeks away from the end of March, the moment when the UK has chosen to become a third country.

And today, 10 weeks away, the risk of a no deal has never been so high.

Our resolution is to avoid such a scenario, but we also have a responsibility. That is why, we are intensifying our efforts on our side to deal with this scenario.

Michel Barnier, Debate on the UK's withdrawal from the EU, 16 January 2019

 

Logos, pathos, and ethos

Those habits of reasoned debate which you teach are exactly what Europe needs today. 

Democracy has always been about feelings, as well as reason. If we forget about feeling, our politics becomes bloodless, detached from the lives of the very people it should serve. But if we forget about reason, we lose our ability to find the solutions that make their lives better.

Margrethe Vestager, Award of Gold Medal for Public Discourse, Trinity College Dublin Historical Society, 25 January 2019

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2019

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

Happy New Year! 

That 2019 will be happy is by no means a foregone conclusion. Stakes are high (for our non-European readers, 2019 will see European elections resulting in a new European Parliament and a new European Commission; and one of our Member States will decide how to leave the Union) and challenges are huge, as this past month selection shows once again: populism and the defense of our fundamental values, climate change (with the COP 24 speeches), terrorism and sexual violence (with the Nobel peace prize lectures). All call for speeches that identify clearly the issue, show progress and give hope, and empower in strong calls for action. This selection of speeches and quotes shines a spotlight on a few such speeches.

So, to start well this new year, enjoy the reading below and, more than ever :

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Call for action

(English below) Vos Majestés, Distingués membres du Comité Nobel, Mesdames et Messieurs, Amis de la paix,

Le défi est clair. Il est à notre portée.

Pour les Sarah, pour les femmes, les hommes et les enfants du Congo, je vous lance un appel urgent de ne pas seulement nous remettre le Prix Nobel de la Paix mais de vous mettre debout et de dire ensemble et à haute voix : « La violence en RDC, c’est assez ! Trop c’est trop ! La paix maintenant ! »

(In English)

Your Majesties, Distinguished Members of the Nobel Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends of peace,

The challenge is clear. It is within our reach.

For all Sarahs, for all women, for all men and children of Congo, I call upon you not only to award this Nobel Peace Prize to my country’s people, but to stand up and together say loudly: “The violence in the DRC, it’s enough! Enough is enough! Peace, now!”

Denis Mukwege, Nobel peace prize lecture, 10 December 2018

 

Thank you very much for this honour, but the fact remains that the only prize in the world that can restore our dignity is justice and the prosecution of criminals.

Nadia Murad, Nobel peace prize lecture, 10 December 2018

 

Contrast

Today is a special day for me. 

It is the day when good has triumphed over evil, 

the day when humanity defeated terrorism, 

the day that the children and women who have suffered persecution have triumphed over the perpetrators of these crimes.

Nadia Murad, Nobel peace prize lecture, 10 December 2018

 

If credibility is of the essence, get ready to address the challenge raised by this teenager

You’re never too small to make a difference.

Greta Thunberg, Speech at COP 24, Katowice, December 2018

 

In politics, bridges are more important than walls, though we know how much easier and faster it is to raise a wall, than to build a bridge.

Donald Tusk, Award of the honorary doctorate from the technical university of Dortmund, 16 December 2018, 

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Depth and gravity marked the speeches delivered this past month as Europe commemorated the hundredth anniversary of the end of the first world war, the eightieth anniversary of the Kristallnacht, or looked ahead to global challenges, with the Katowice COP 24 just starting, 

These speeches typically call for good lines, as you can see below in our monthly selection of what good rhetoric is. 

On a lighter tone but as relevant, the latest book in the Bibliography section provides useful insights on what audiences can get – or not – from the use of numbers and statistics in speeches. 

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

I want to say this with all the force I have in me today, 

because the coming night we will be thinking about the 80th anniversary of the Kristallnacht in Germany. 

And this is for me the ultimate symbol that if you just put enough effort into it, as Hitler and Goebbels did, in a couple of years' time, even in a sophisticated society, you can manipulate people's anxieties and fear and instrumentalize it to such a degree that you can dehumanise part of your population, especially if you can say that they are different. This is what happened in Germany between 1933 and 1938.

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, 25th anniversary of the OSCE High Commissioner on national minorities, 9 November 2018

 

The power of the ‘Why’ question

Eighty years since the pogrom night – why, ladies and gentlemen, am I talking to you about this today?

... and the speech comes full circle

This is why we commemorate today (…). That is the message and the essence of our acts of commemoration today.

Read the full speech here: Angela Merkel, Commemorative event marking the 80th anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht, 9 November 2018

 

The power of the ‘Why’ question … and who raises this question

(English below)

Il y a 10 ans, en 2008, mourrait à l’âge de 110 ans le dernier combattant français connu de la Grande Guerre, M. Lazare Ponticelli. Chaque 11 novembre, M. Ponticelli, immigré italien, honorait la promesse faite à ses camarades tombés trop jeunes au combat. Il se rendait au monument aux morts pour penser à eux.

A la toute fin de sa vie, il avait finalement accepté de témoigner dans les écoles. Et son témoignage commençait ainsi - et je cite: « D’abord, je n’ai jamais su pourquoi on se battait… ».

Lire le discours intégral d'António Guterres, Ouverture du forum de Paris sur la paix, 11 novembre 2018

 

Regarder et écouter le discours d'António Guterres, Ouverture du forum de Paris sur la paix, 11 novembre 2018

(In English)

Ten years ago, in 2008, Mr. Lazare Ponticelli, the last known French veteran of the Great War, died at the age of 110. Every year on 11 November, Mr. Ponticelli, an Italian immigrant, honoured the promise he had made to his comrades who had died too young on the battlefield. He used to visit his local war memorial to remember them. Right at the end of his life, he had finally agreed to talk to schoolchildren about his experience. He always began with these words: “First of all, I never knew why we were fighting …” 

Read the full speech here: António Guterres, Address to the Paris peace forum, 11 November 2018

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Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Just back from the Professional Speechwriters Association ‘s 2018 Word Conference: the opening keynote speech was a call for going high when they go low (Philip Collins wrote this book I recommended last year) and the closing keynote session focused on ‘Enough said : What’s gone wrong with the language of politics’, with New York Times CEO, Mark Thompson interviewed on his book. 

I had already recommended the first one in the bibliography. I’ve read the second one and recommend it to anyone who wonders what has happened – when and how – and what to do. With these two highlights of the conference and everything in between, as well as the conversations during the breaks, it’s definitely a call to do our best, especially in times of important elections on the other side of the Atlantic this week, and on our side next spring.

Next to an updated bibliography, you'll find the monthly selection of what good rhetoric is below.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

A rhetorical treasure from the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2018 World Conference

Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.  Our Gross National Product (…) counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them.  It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.  It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities.  It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.  Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.  It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. 

Robert F. Kennedy, Remarks at the University of Kansas, 18 March 1968

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Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

One speech stands out this month: it mobilises a whole range of rhetorical forces and ammunition to serve a message that concerns all of us. This speech is the United Nations Secretary General’s call for action on climate change, delivered on 10 September 2018. 

If you read only one speech this month, read this one! Which is why, exceptionally, there is only one speech in this newsletter. 

One speech, but myriad rhetorical devices. I’ve identified some of them below, and under "Read more".

Very important as well: the Professional Speechwriters Association’s 2018 World Conference starts in just three weeks in Washington, DC. I will be there. Let me know if you will.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

How to address the audience

Dear friends of planet Earth,

 

Start with a bang

I have asked you here to sound the alarm.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time – and we are at a defining moment.

We face a direct existential threat.

Read the full speech here : Antonio Guterres, Remarks on climate change, 10 September 2018

Watch the full speech here 

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Welcome back!

Here’s your selection of the best quotes and speeches delivered over the summer. 

Stories emerge as a leading theme.

Why do we tell stories?

Why is it important to tell them? 

Why do they work so powerfully in speeches?

Of course, I mean well-chosen and well-told stories. The Bibliography section on this website has several references that explain what a story is (in contrast to anecdotes), how to set the scene and build the character so that the audience will be eager to listen to what happens next and will remember your message. 

You’ll find these and more examples of what good rhetoric is below.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Why do we tell stories ?

Many (people) have already forgotten.

Little by little, perspectives have changed.

Stories have been misremembered.

The danger of memories is that they do not die suddenly –

they fade, and they are distorted.

It's in all of our interests to constantly refresh them.

Read the full speech here: Cecilia Malmström, Transatlantic trade in turbulent times, Brussels, 19 July 2018

 

I mention this story for three reasons. First, I want to pay tribute to Mr Brookins and all other American soldiers for their courage and bravery (…). Secondly, because many (…) who were there that day in December 1944 are no longer around to tell the story themselves. (…)The third reason is that this story shows the unbreakable bond that makes the transatlantic partnership what it is. This bond explains a lot about how we have been able to come so far together.

Read the full speech here: Jean-Claude Juncker, 'Transatlantic relations at a crossroads', Washington, 25 July 2018

 

Stories are memorable

(English below)

Solche Schilderungen lassen mich nicht los.

Die ganze Rede auf Deutsch: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Gespräch mit Bürgern aus der Nachbarschaft, 22. August 2018

 

I can’t forget these stories.

Read the full speech: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Turkish-German coffee afternoon, 22 August 2018, translated into Englishand in Turkish, given the subject and the audience.

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, July 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

A wind of bracing openings, unexpected quotes, and refreshing tropes has been blowing on this past month’s speeches. 

They are more than welcome; they are necessary to renew the debate on the future of Europe, ahead of the European elections next year.

You’ll find these and more examples of what good rhetoric is on: www.logospathosethos.eu

Have a relaxing and inspiring summer. This newsletter will be back for the September issue.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Make it easy to grasp

It means that by the time I’ve finished this short speech, somewhere in the world another five women will have lost their lives through complications in pregnancy or childbirth. And twenty more will suffer lifelong pain or disability.

Contrast

It’s not “just a woman’s problem” – it’s an insult to all humanity.

Rhetorical question

As the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation estimated, every dollar spent can save up to six dollars which can then be used for housing, sanitation and other services. So how can we afford not to?

When the speech comes full circle

It’s essential for helping us to achieve our global goals of healthy, happy and prosperous societies and economies. This is why I was determined to make women and girls the focus of this year’s European Development Days.

And why I am very happy to join you here today. Thank you very much.

Read the full speech here: Neven Mimica, No health without rights – women and girls decide, 5 June 2018

 

Unexpected simile

Beyen wrote: ‘Europe is like a giraffe: an animal difficult to define but easy to recognise.’ And fifty years on, that’s still a good description.

Tricolons, repetitions, quotes, crescendo, varied rhythm and much more :

Read the full speech here: Mark Rutte, The future of the European Union, 13 June 2018

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Logos Pathos Ethos, June 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Data has been all over the news this past month. Little surprise it ranks high in this selection of the best speeches and quotes to highlight its importance (Andrus Ansip), denounce abuse (Guy Verhofstadt), or restore hope in the future (Carlos Moedas). 

You’ll find these and more examples of what good rhetoric is on: www.logospathosethos.eu

If you read French, une nouvelle lecture vous attend dans la section Bibliographie. 

 

NB : Speaking of data, your data to receive this newsletter: the only data collected is your e-mail address, and a first name and surname in most cases (sometimes a nickname). You receive this monthly newsletter because you have expressed the wish to receive it, in most cases by registering on the website, or by sending an e-mail. Your data is stored in Belgium. You can ask it to be corrected or deleted at any time. You can unsuscribe at any time. Your data is not forwarded to anyone.

If you are fine with these, you will continue to receive this newsletter. If not, just reply to this mail with your request.


Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

One word to remember

Today, we are here to discuss technologies that will change our world. For this, there is just one word to remember: data.

(with 21 occurrences in a 10-minute speech)

Read the full speech here, Andrus Ansip, Technologies that will change our world, 15 May 2018

 

The power of a question

You have to ask yourself how you will be remembered : as one of the three big internet giants, together with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, who have enriched our world and our societies ? Or on the other hand, in fact as a genius who created a digital monster that is destroying our democracies and societies ? 

Watch the full speech here, Guy Verhofstadt, Conference of Presidents with Mark Zuckerberg, 22 May 2018 (starting at 11’.10’’)

 

Surprises, anecdotes, quotes, stories, 

and tricolons 

I look at the media, or I talk to people and so often all I hear is Doubt. Fear. Disbelief (…)

I think we are not "afraid" of new technologies so much as we are afraid of the loss that we think they will bring. Our lives. Our control. Our jobs.

Read the full speech here, Carlos Moedas, Horasis global meeting, 6 May 2018

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Logos Pathos Ethos, May 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

This newsletter is reaching your mailbox as Europe celebrates the end of the Second World War (8 May) and the audacity of the European integration project — mind you, launching this invitation the first day after only the fifth anniversary of such an unspeakable horror.

This peace project remains a leading theme in major speeches on the European stage, several decades later, as this selection  of the best speeches delivered in April shows. It still inspires leaders when they speak about the present or reflect about the future. And it matches the views of the Europeans, who still put peace at the top of the most positive results of Europe, together with free movement, well before other achievements like the exchange programme Erasmus or the Euro.

You’ll find these and a whole series of examples of what good rhetoric is on: www.logospathosethos.eu

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

Europe, first and foremost, a peace project

J'appartiens à une génération qui n'a pas connu la guerre et j'appartiens à une génération qui est en train de s'offrir le luxe d'oublier ce que les prédécesseurs ont vécu(...) Mais je viens aussi d'une terre et d'une famille qui a connu toutes les saignées de notre histoire passée. Alors les choix sont simples, moi je ne veux pas appartenir à une génération de somnambules. Je ne veux pas appartenir à une génération qui aura oublié son propre passé ou qui refusera de voir les tourments de son propre présent.

Watch the full speech here (delivered in French with live interpretation into 23 languages): Emmanuel Macron, Discours au Parlement européen, 17 avril 2018.

Read the full speech here.


I could sum it up in just one sentence: don't let the sleepwalkers lead more people to disaster.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, Acceptance speech for the 2018 Polonicus prize, 28 April 2018

 

The European ideal took shape in the second part of the twentieth century. Although, at the time, the world was riven by animosity and fear, some were imaginative enough to envisage a future in which we were joined together by mutual interest, trust and affection. European values are the values that we advance in Ireland, within our European family, and in our relations with the wider world. Europe is one of the most successful political projects of the last century. So much has been achieved that once seemed the stuff of dreams.

Read the full speech here: Leo Varadkar, Martens Lecture on the future of Europe, 26 April 2018

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Logos Pathos Ethos, April 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

The debate on the future of Europe is in full swing with one Member State leaving the European Union in just one year, European elections coming up shortly after, in May 2019, and the next multi-annual financial framework (Which priorities? How much money?) currently discussed.

Different views, different speakers, all mobilising rhetorical tools to serve their vision and rally support.

See this month’s selection of best quotes and speeches below and click on ‘read more’ to get the whole selection.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Strong opening

You had a choice today. You could have listened to a speech in the UK about a future without Europe. Or a speech in Berlin by someone who believes in Europe and wants to talk about the best way to move forward with Europe. I’m glad you’re here. 

Make it concrete, visual

The European Union is not, in my view, an unstoppable train speeding towards federalism (…).

To use a painful metaphor: the fact that the Dutch national football team won’t be competing at the next World Cup is not a reason to send a European team in 2022. The Netherlands is going to get there on its own.

Repetition

A deal is a deal. (six occurrences of this guiding principle).

Read Mark Rutte, Underpromise and overdeliver: fulfilling the promise of Europe, 2 March 2018

Egalement disponible en français

Auch auf Deutsch

 

Building your credibility

Perhaps because Portugal returned to Europe after a lengthy 48 years of dictatorship, 13 years of an anachronistic colonial war in Africa, and because we suffered the tensions of the revolutionary founding period of our democracy, Portugal fully understands that being European is not just a happenstance of geography or history. More than a single currency, more than a single market, Europe is a community first and foremost of values.

Watch Antonio Costa, Future of Europe, 14 March 2018, available in 7 languages

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Logos Pathos Ethos, March 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

From the dozens of speeches delivered this month, what stands out in terms of speeches and speechwriting ?

A few good lines that use classical rhetorical devices to make their point.

And two female voices taking the stage: rage after yet another mass shooting in a US school in the voice of a young student packing her 10-minute speech with an impressive collection of rhetorical devices; and the new hostess to the Munich Security Conference.

I wonder what you, speech-fans and –friends, think of these two especially. Let me know.

And, to celebrate the Treaty of Rome anniversary next month, a new book dedicated to great Europeans’ speeches in the bibliography section.

Best wishes,

Great speeches, 

Isabelle

 

Two female voices taking the stage

We are going to be the kids you read about in textbooks. Not because we're going to be another statistic about mass shooting in America, but because (…)

we are going to be the last mass shooting. 

- For this and many other rhetorical devices (in addition to a lot of pathos, contrats, repetitions, litanies, quotes, striking figures, call for action, inspiring precedents, getting the audience involved etc.), read or watch here Florida student Emma Gonzalez, 18 February 2018

- Sophia opens a conference, makes eye-contact and even winks at the audience, but can Sophia tell a personal and compelling story ?

Watch Robot Sophia opening the Munich Security Conference, 15 February 2018. 

 

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

It's a little late, perhaps, for new year’s resolutions. But I'd like to suggest that we all make one anyway:  To do our bit to help Europeans get involved in building a bright future for Europe.’

This quote is from EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in her Competition and the future of Europe speech, delivered on 17 January 2018.

We the speech-fans and -friends do our bit through writing and promoting great speeches. You'll find this speech and many more good quotes and speeches on logospathosethos.eu

Enjoy the latest selection - and keep the resolution. 

Best wishes,

Great speeches, 

Isabelle

 

Ethos

The world is changing. But that doesn't mean the right way to respond is by changing our Union. By creating new institutions, drafting new treaties, producing new legislation by the barrowload.

All those things might seem to carry the stamp of action. But they won't necessarily make people's lives better or help us play a more forceful global role. And the measure of our success in facing up to the future shouldn't be how much we change our institutions, but how much we change people’s lives, and improve everyone’s opportunities.

Read the full speech here: Margrethe Vestager, Competition and the future of Europe, 17 January 2018

Ethos and pathos combined

Calling to memory past matters (also known as anamnesis)

Who, if not you –  the descendants of Spartacus, the inheritors of the oldest European statehood, you, who never ever lost a flag in any battle – would be better placed to rise to this important and exceptionally difficult task, that is to renew the European perspective for the whole of the region?

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, Opening ceremony of the Bulgarian presidency, 11 January 2018

Proving a statement by referring to common knowledge  (also known as apodixis)

What makes our European economies strong is the Single Market. The British know this well, since it was the main reason why they joined the EEC in 1972.

Read the full speech here: Michel Barnier, Trends Manager of the year 2017, 9 January 2018

 

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2018

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

Happy New Year!

Best wishes to you, speech-fans and –friends from Australia to Arizona, with most of you reading this newsletter in Europe.

This January 2018 selection has a special flavour: the best quotes and speeches delivered last month come from men and women receiving a prize or distinction, from the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to the Nobel Prize. These speeches are typically the perfect occasion to focus on common values, combine logos, pathos and ethos, and call for action. You will find them below. 

You will also find the Bibliography section updated : Philip Collins’s When they go low, we go high – speeches that shape the world and why we need them deserves a special mention : find out why in the bibliography section.

Best wishes,

Great speeches,

Isabelle

 

Make it simple – make it tangible

A European will easily identify what is common for a Portuguese and a Lithuanian, for a Swede and a Croat. Common in the spatial order and architecture, music, painting and in metaphysical experience. As different and colourful as we are – as ambiguous and complicated as we are – we all understand the Bible, Homer, Cicero, Cervantes, Dante and Shakespeare. We find ourselves in the music of Bach, Chopin and Liszt, in the paintings of Piero della Francesca and Vermeer. And we all feel good in towns where we can easily find the market square, directing ourselves towards the distant towers of the cathedral and the town hall. If we want to protect our territory, it is precisely because it is defined not only by borders, but also by the symbols of our culture.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, receiving Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pécs, 8 December 2017

 

[The Sakharov Prize] is an acknowledgment for mothers denying themselves food to save their children, for children rummaging in the rubbish to satiate their hunger, for old people wasting away to death because of a lack of medicines.

Read here: Julio Borges, Democratic opposition of Venezuela receiving Sakharov Prize, 13 December 2017

Watch the full speech in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian or Estonian here

 

Tangible … very tangible :

How can you translate an abstract inflation rate of 2.000% into something very tangible for your audience :

Hunger has been made into a political system in Venezuela: 75% of Venezuelans have lost 10 kilos weight over the last 12 months.

Read here: Julio Borges, Democratic opposition of Venezuela receiving Sakharov Prize, 13 December 2017

Watch the full speech in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian or Estonian here

 

At dozens of locations around the world - in missile silos buried in our earth, on submarines navigating through our oceans, and aboard planes flying high in our sky - lie 15,000 objects of humankind's destruction.

Read the full speech here: Beatrice Fihn, Nobel Lecture given by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2017, ICAN, 10 December 2017

 

Lire la suite

Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2017

Dear Speech-fans and friends,

There are so many good lines and quotes in this selection that this newsletter is longer than usual – and this introduction shorter than usual.

Congratulations to all the speechwriters behind these speeches, many of whom read this newsletter every month. Congratulations and thank you.

You will find the full version of the newsletter – and much more – on: logospathosethos.eu

 Isabelle

 

Face the facts

Europe woke up on 24 June 2016 with a sense of disbelief. We could hardly believe that the British people had decided, in a sovereign vote, to put an end to 44 years of common history. We found it hard to grasp, a few months later, that Transatlantic relations might change as a result of the election of Donald Trump. And of course, following each terrorist attack we found it hard to believe that our countries' children could inflict irreparable harm on our soil.

 

Put the spotlight on hope – highlighted with repetition

But on each occasion, this sense of shock led to a common response.

Very quickly, following the British referendum, Europeans expressed their desire to continue to move forward together.

Very quickly, following the election of Mr Trump, the Union spoke out strongly to reaffirm its commitment to multilateralism and the fight against climate change.

Very quickly, following each of the attacks on our soil, in Paris, Brussels, Nice, London, Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm and Barcelona, we saw a display of solidarity between the peoples of Europe and a determination to fight terrorism side by side.

Read the full speech hereMichel Barnier, "Obbligati a crescere – l'Europa dopo Brexit", 9 November 2017

Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Welcome to the new readers who have subscribed to this monthly newsletter following the World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters’ Association in Washington DC from 16 to 18 October.

Each conference is different from the previous ones but the inspiration and motivation you get remain as high, from the keynote address to conversations with peers, new tips and insights on storytelling, voice, and ‘the nuclear bomb of rhetoric’ (ie metaphors, for better or for worse), professional advice from the most experienced and talented colleagues, to exchange with the laureates of the Cicero Speechwriting Awards.

There are more and more European speechwriters attending this gathering. That they attend this professional conference is a good omen for the future of European speeches.

I was invited to deliver the «state of speeches in Europe in 2017» speech. Looking back at the ones delivered over the last twelve months, our speeches are getting more and more to the heart of the matter :

Who are we ?

What are our values ?

What do we want to build together ?

The best lines delivered last month confirm this trend to existential questions: just look at the selection on: logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

 

It starts with a fair assessment:

Over the last years managing all these crises, we've been excessively pragmatic in communicating about them. Trying to convince people with PowerPoint presentations and graphics, saying: "We're doing better than you think... Yes, you might feel like that, but here are the numbers." And we've lost many people because of that.

Read the full speech here: Frans Timmermans, (Re)thinking Europe, 27 October 2017 

Britain's referendum campaign was full of false arguments and unacceptable generalisations. But it would have been a big mistake to interpret the negative result exclusively as a symptom of British exceptionalism and Euroscepticism, because all over Europe, even moderate voters were asking "Is the European Union the answer to problems of instability and insecurity, or is it now standing in the way?"

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, Address to the European Committee of the Regions, 10 October 2017

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Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

September means back to school, back to work and, for world leaders, back to the United Nations General Assembly. This annual gathering gives the floor to the largest variety of speakers, with one common goal : describe the world and the challenges ahead in just a few minutes to the widest possible audience and get this message across. You will find a selection below.

In Europe, September means back to the European Parliament for the State of the European Union. This address, together with the Brexit negotiations and other topical issues, also calls for clear and powerful messages.

And for speechwriters, autumn means back to the Professional Speechwriters Association World Conference. This year, moved from September to October. We will be there, with for sure a fruitful harvest next month. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, you will find quotes, tips and books on: logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

 

I am here in a spirit of gratitude and humility for the trust you have placed in me to serve the world’s peoples.

“We the peoples”, and the United Nations, face grave challenges.

Our world is in trouble. People are hurting and angry. They see insecurity rising, inequality growing, conflict spreading and climate changing.

The global economy is increasingly integrated, but our sense of global community may be disintegrating.

Societies are fragmented. Political discourse is polarized. Trust within and among countries is being driven down by those who demonize and divide.

We are a world in pieces. We need to be a world at peace.

And I strongly believe that, together, we can build peace. We can restore trust and create a better world for all.

Read the full speech here: Antonio Guterres, Address to the General Assembly, 19 September 2017


The wind is back in Europe's sails.

We now have a window of opportunity but it will not stay open forever.

Let us make the most of the momentum, catch the wind in our sails.

Read the full speech (available in the 24 official languages) here: Jean-Claude Juncker, State of the European Union address, 13 September 2017

 

The future of the Union is our priority, not Brexit.

Read the full speech here: Michel Barnier, Italian Parliament, 21 September 2017

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Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Over the summer, two major European figures passed away: Helmut Kohl and Simone Veil. Their lives inspired eulogies that stand out as they provide an opportunity to stand back and reflect on what ultimately matters, celebrate values and achievements, and share a vision of what unites us. Little surprise that several quotes in this selection come from these epideictic speeches.

Our shared interest for great speeches has found an unusual space on TV this summer. The European TV channel Arte has a special series on great speeches, available en français : Les grands discours und natürlich auch auf Deutsch: Grosse Reden.

You will find more quotes, tips and books on: logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle


Vision

The history of her life is the history of our continent, the history of a continent torn apart, lost, which experienced the worst atrocities of which humanity is capable, but which, like her, found the strength to rise up again, to rebuild itself and to be reborn.

In her inaugural speech, which she gave on 17 July 1979, she showed that she grasped the true nature of the responsibility on her shoulders.

This is what she said:  ‘For this is the first time in history, a history in which we have so frequently been divided, pitted one against the other, bent on mutual destruction, that the people of Europe have together elected their delegates to a common assembly . Let there be no doubt, these elections form a milestone on the path of Europe, the most important since the signing of the Treaties’.

In a 23-minute speech, she set out, with exceptional clear-sightedness, a vision for the development of our Parliament over the next 40 years. 

I urge you to read the speech, if you have not already done so, because it seems to me to be remarkably topical. You will find in it enthusiasm, hopes, expectations, the ambitions of a whole generation of men and women who sat on these benches before us and who we should all take as our inspiration.

Read the speech (available in 20 languages): Antonio Tajani, Formal European Parliament ceremony in honour of Simone Veil, 4 July 2017

As the President of the European Parliament urges us to read Simone Veil’s inaugural speech, you can read here the original in French, and here in EnglishYou can also watch her delivering this speech.

 

The power of the ‘Why’ question

I ask you to think about something not in my notes. I was looking around this crowd today, and all of us who used to be in office, all of us who came. Why ?

Because Helmut Kohl gave us the chance to be involved in something bigger than ourselves, bigger than our terms of office, bigger than our fleeting careers, because all of us, sooner or later, will be in a coffin like that.

Watch the speech: Bill Clinton, Personal farewell to Helmut Kohl, 1 July 2017

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Logos Pathos Ethos, July-August 2017

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

Logos Pathos Ethos, June 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

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Logos Pathos Ethos, May 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

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Logos Pathos Ethos, April 2017

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

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Logos Pathos Ethos, 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

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Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Among all the speeches we come across, why do we sometimes decide to forward one to our friends?

What does it take for a speech to go go viral?

What does it take for a speech to have us, speech-fans and –friends, send it to our loved ones because we think it will lift their spirits?

January 2017 offered a few such examples :

First came Mery Streep 2017 Golden Globes speech that many of you forwarded.

Then another speech got attention for "words which were surprising, honest, bold and deep. (The speaker) used language which won over many sceptics. Newspapers were now printing statements by (sceptics) expressing respect for the (speaker) and taking back their earlier objections. We know that this doesn't often happen. This is one of the reasons why we consider (this) speech extraordinary and historic".

Last but not least, a third speech inspired many of you in Europe, who shared it with their colleagues and friends and drew my attention to it.

Find out which speeches they are and some other good quotes in our monthly selection on www.logospathosethos.eu

And keep forwarding your favourite speeches.

Isabelle

Overcoming fear

(English below)

Als ich als 11-Jähriger im Hallenbad das erste Mal auf dem Dreimeterbrett stand, hat mir das keine Freude bereitet. Doch ein Kind, das das erste Mal da steht, weiß, wenn es sich weiterentwickeln möchte, muss es springen. Es weiß, es muss springen. Aber es weiß nicht, wie sich der Sprung anfühlt und wie es genau nach dem Sprung weitergehen wird. Und doch, in den meisten Fällen, wagt es den Schritt nach vorne. Ich habe es damals auch gewagt. Und auch den Sprung vom Fünfmeterbrett.

Warum?

Weil die Zuversicht stärker ist als der Zweifel… Ich appelliere heute an Ihre Zuversicht!

As an 11year-old boy at the indoor swimming pool, standing on the three-metre diving board for the first time did not make me happy. But children standing there for the first time know they have to jump if they want to make progress. They know they have to jump. But they don’t know what this jump will feel like and what exactly will happen after the jump. And yet, in most cases, they dare to take this step forward. I also did it back then. And I also jumped off the five-metre diving board  

Why?

Because confidence is stronger than doubt… Today I call upon your confidence!

Read the full speech here (English is below the German text): President Alexander Van der Bellen, Inauguration speech, 26 January 2017

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Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2017

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Peace.

Peace is the recurring theme in this month’s selection of quotes and speeches.

Peace for places as diverse as Aleppo, Columbia, Germany, Pearl Harbor.

Peace as the most precious lesson past and current leaders urge us to embrace.

And peace as my best wish to you, readers of this newsletter, as we start a new year. To you, from Australia to Arizona, who read these lines : peace.

 

I also recommend two webpages:

- The outgoing White House administration reminds us that ‘behind (President Obama’s) words is a group of speechwriters who have worked closely with the President to craft important messages to the American people. It’s meant countless drafts and rewrites, late nights, and last-minute edits from the motorcade. As his time in office comes to a close, the President’s speechwriterspast and presenttook a look back at eight years of remarks to share some of the words, speeches, and memories that stand out to them.

Take a look at a few of the President’s top speeches as chosen by his speechwriters’.

- Nancy Duarte, whose books we strongly recommend in our Bibliography, has designed, together with Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, an insightful test to help speakers with fear of public speaking, available on the Harvard Business Review website. Answering some 24 questions provides guidance on one’s strengths and where to focus to improve and ultimately feel … at peace when taking the floor.

You’ll find the full latest selection of quotes and speeches on http://www.logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

 

Allow me to tell you, from my own experience, that it is much harder to make peace than to wage war.

Read the full speech here: Nobel Lecture by Juan Manuel Santos, Peace in Columbia: from the impossible to the possible, 10 December 2016.

Peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

Read the full speech here: Martin Luther King's Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, 10 December 1964

I hope that together, we send a message to the world that there is more to be won in peace than in war; that reconciliation carries more rewards than retribution.

Read the full speech here: Barack Obama, Remarks at Pearl Harbor, 28 December 2016

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Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

 

End of September, I was invited to speak at the Professional Speechwriters Association World Conference on ‘Speeches and Speechwriting in Europe in 2016’. To prepare this talk, I looked for trends that would both refer to Europe and be relevant for an international audience. I soon identified one leading trend, only emerging yet obvious, and already the strongest. I spoke about this new word capturing this new phenomenon : the ‘post-truth’ - or ‘post-fact’ - era of speeches and democracy.

From hardly used before, it is suddenly everywhere now, from titles to articles to conferences.

Little did I know then that the Oxford Dictionary would select it as the 2016 International Word of the Year.

It’s a real concern for our democracies, and an additional challenge for speakers and speechwriters. All the more reason to have a look at the speeches that matter on the European stage today.

You’ll find the latest selection of quotes and speeches on http://www.logospathosethos.eu

Isabelle

 

Commemorating : the great potential of epideictic speeches

We all know that we are living in a historic time, and that our actions will have effects for generations to come. But we can't know exactly what effect we will have. All we can do is to trust in our values, and have the courage to act on them.

Read the full speech here: Margrethe Vestager, Luther and the modern world, 14 November 2016

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2016

Dear speech-fans and friends,

On the eve of the presidential election in the United States, our attention might be taken away from Europe. Little surprise that First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech that made it to the frontpages worldwide and was already suggested as speech of the year by Vital speeches appears in this selection.

But our focus remains to shine a spotlight on the speeches that matter to Europe : this month, the best lines are to be found in some of our leaders’ confessions.

They give us food for thought and share valuable lessons for these difficult times:

‘It is an iron law that those who will be caught up in the great movements determining the course of their times always fail to recognise them in their early stages’, wrote Stefan Zweig in The world of yesterday : memoirs of a European, quoted by President of the European Council Donald Tusk, 20th anniversary of the European Policy Centre, 13 October 2016.

Isabelle

 

Confessions of a leader

When I gave my first policy statement ten years ago, as Prime Minister of Poland, I spoke for nearly three hours. One of the commentators correctly observed that had my speech been as wise as it was long, it would have been one of the best in Polish history.

Read the full speech here: Donald Tusk, 20th anniversary of the European Policy Centre, 13 October 2016

 

Je laisse maintenant mon discours, que des mains inspirées ont rédigé, mais en regardant la salle, je crois que je vais vous parler d'une autre façon.

Read the full speech here: Jean-Claude Juncker, Remise du prix de l'engagement européen, 6 octobre 2016

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Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Just back from the World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association in Washington DC.

Even posting the dozens of pages of notes and documents I bring back could not match what you get by participating: next to high-level expertise and the most up-to-date insight on speeches, it’s meeting and networking with professionals from all over the world; it’s experiencing the power of speeches from talented colleagues; it’s the motivation to become better professionals.

The conference this year ranged from how the political brain works to what wit adds to speeches and speakers, to reflections on the profession of speechwriter – from the making of the State of the Union to what singing and speechwriting have in common. Let us know what you want to explore and we’ll find a way to share this.

You will find the latest selection of quotes and speeches on logospathosethos.eu.

Isabelle

 

Variations on the power of antithesis

I am convinced that the worst day of European integration is better than the best day of nationalistic Europe.

Read the full speech here : Martin Schulz, The EU and the UK, parting ways but working together, 23 September 2016

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Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends, 

Logos, pathos, ethos is back with its summer harvest.

With major elections coming up, several speeches ask what kind of rhetoric we need.

Also in this newsletter, some epideictic speeches - as examples of how commemorating an anniversary can serve as a springboard - and a selection on the beauties of multilingualism. Find more on logospathosethos.eu.

To help you ‘ignite change through speeches, stories, ceremonies and symbols’, the Bibliography section reviews Nancy Duarte’s 2016 book : ‘Illuminate’, together with other useful titles. More under : logospathosethos.eu/bibliography

In just four weeks, speechwriters from all over the world will meet at the Professional Speechwriters Association World Conference. Let us know if you go so that we can meet there – you can still register.

Isabelle


What kind of rhetoric do we need? 

The current lack of public and political engagement in fact-based decision-making even has people asking, have we have entered a "post-factual" era of democracy? One in which the public identifies with populist rhetoric and decisions are made based on fears and assumptions, because people feel science and politics have left them behind.

Read the full speech here : Carlos Moedas, Europe's voyage towards an open global research area, EuroScience Open Forum, 25 July 2016

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Logos Pathos Ethos, July 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends,


Different speakers, different audiences, different events, yet the same quote :

A politician is a man who thinks of the next election, while a statesman thinks of the next generation.

Together with its relevance for us today, this makes it our quote of the month.

If you want to find out who used it, read this month selection of quotes.

 

European speeches in June have dealt with – obvioulsy - the referendum in United Kingdom, but also history, Asterix and football.

 

You might also want to meet and learn from Sarah Hurwitz, Michelle Obama’s speechwriter – special thanks to Vital speeches for spotting this Washington Post article.

 

Logos, pathos, ethos will be back after the summer.

Have a fruitful break.

 

Isabelle

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Logos Pathos Ethos, June 2016

Dear Speech-fans and -friends,

Why does the art of speeches matter so much?

Speechwriter Simon Lancaster explains it quite well in his Ted talk: (watch:) Speak like a leader. It is becoming viral within the speechwriting community and for good reason.

This month harvest of speeches illustrates his point, by revealing once again the great potential of remembrance speeches, in Hiroshima, Verdun, or on Europe Day.

If you understand French, (écoutez:) La parole comme une arme: l'éloquence en politique. Cette émission radiophonique d’une heure est consacrée à l’éloquence de la politique française mais ses conclusions valent bien au-delà de l’hexagone. 

Enjoy this selection,

Isabelle

The point I’m making here is very serious : The reason we all used to learn rhetoric at school was because it was seen as a basic entry point to society. How could society be fair unless everyone had equal ability to articulate and express themselves ? Without it, your legal systems, your political systems, your financial sytems are not fair. It should be of intense concern to all of us that education in this has been narrowed to a very small and powerful elite (…)

Let’s revive rhetoric, let’s really reinvigorate debates around the world and let’s really give every child on the planet to become a leader.  What should we call this grand initiative ? Well here’s an idea. How about : democracy ?

(Full speech:) Simon Lancaster, Speak like a leader, April 2016 

Commemorating Europe Day

What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?

What has happened to you, Europe, the home of poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women of letters?

What has happened to you, Europe, the mother of peoples and nations, the mother of great men and women who upheld, and even sacrificed their lives for, the dignity of their brothers and sisters?

(Full speech:) Pope Francis, Conferral of the Charlemagne Prize, 6 May 2016 (also available in Arabic, German, French, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese)

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Logos Pathos Ethos, May 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends

As we celebrate Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death

Look at Shakespeare: what are the great moments of his work? The sword fights?

No, the speeches,

when someone steps downstage and says, let me tell you what it is, let me tell you what it could be, lend me your ears.

The speeches, and the balcony scene. Those are the parts we remember.

Done right, a good speech can change the world. (…)


Here’s a secret a speechwriter can never forget: people don’t care that much about strategy, or sales goals or market share. They may say they do, but that’s not it.

They want to be inspired. They want to be part of something meaningful and big. And our job is to show them what that feels like.

Every speech is a hero’s journey. But the hero isn’t the speaker up on the stage.

No, no, no.

In our theater, the hero is the man or woman out there in the audience looking for something that will (…) finally let them become the person they long be.

Dain Dunston, The Downside of Up: The Outrageous Fortune of Being a Speechwriter, 2016 Cicero Speechwriting Grand Award, delivered at the 2015 World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association

 

Want more speeches ? Read this monthly selection and the best of the 2016 Cicero Speechwriting Awards.

Want more inspiration ? Join the 2016 World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association. PSA offers a special 15% discount to Logos, Pathos, Ethos readers with the code LPE15.

Enjoy this selection,

Isabelle


Perhaps you need an outsider, somebody who is not European, to remind you of the magnitude of what you have achieved. 

President Obama, Address to the People of Europe, Hannover, Germany, 25 April 2016

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, April 2016

Dear speech-fans and -friends,

Most of the speeches this month have a common theme:

From H-D Gensher’s most famous quotation that we recall as he just passed away,

to European current affairs,

to forward-looking speeches delivered in places of former divisions, in Cyprus and between the United States and Cuba,

to George Clooney’s reminder of how to deal with giant numbers.

This common theme is refugees.

This selection is completed by Al Gore’s Case for optimism and shines a spotligh on some of the best rhetorical devices,

and a few lines from Imre Kertész’s Nobel Lecture Eureka - on the occasion of his passing away on 31 March 2016 - as an invitation to explore Nobel Lectures.

Looking forward to your comments and reactions, 

Isabelle


Numbers numb.

It’s too much to talk about giant numbers.

It’s actually easy to dismiss giant numbers.

But it’s very hard to dismiss a young child sitting on the ground crying when her mother’s telling the story about how she left.

G. Clooney - of refugee descent (sic) - meeting Syrian refugees, 15 March 2016

 

Former German Foreign affairs Minister H-D Gensher’s most famous quotation

(English below)

Wir sind heute zu Ihnen gekommen, um Ihnen mitzuteilen, dass heute Ihre Ausreise…

We have come to you today, to announce, that today, your leaving the country …

H-D Genscher, to 4500 East-Germans who had sought refuge in the German Embassy in Prague, 30 September 1989

To refresh our memory on this speech: The Guardian

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Logos Pathos Ethos, March 2016

Dear speech-fans and friends,

The art of speeches is an old enough discipline to keep us from believing the challenges we face are totally new to mankind.

Looking back to history, we can find in leaders confronted to dangers and difficulties some wisdom, vision, and inspiration.

And good stories. And good quotes.

This month’s harvest provides a few examples.

Isabelle

 

 

If you read only one speech this month, read this one

by Umberto Eco,

delivered in 2012 when he received the Treaties of Nijmegen Medal.

To decide and recognize what, in a tolerant vision, would remain intolerable for us, is the kind or borderline that Europeans are called to trace every day, with a sense of equity and with the constant exercise of that virtue that, since Aristotle, philosopher called Prudence.

In this philosophical sense, prudence does not mean reluctance to take risks, and does not coincide with cowardice. In the classical sense of phronesis, prudence is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.

Umberto Eco, receiving the Treaties of Nijmegen Medal, 7 May 2012

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, February 2016

Dear speech-fans and friends,

From Holocaust Remembrance Day to the World Economic Forum to the State of the Union in Washington, January calls for great speeches.
Here is your monthly selection of powerful lines and rhetorical tools.

Whether you craft or collect quotations, you may be interested to read more on the power of virtuous quotes in this piece of research published in the January-February 2016 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

What will you do on March 15th, for World Speech Day ?

Let’s collect our ideas for the next issue.

Isabelle

 

Build the speaker’s ethos:

Remembrance 1945

As a German born in 1955, I did not live through the darkest times in the history of my country. But the mass murder committed by the Nazis in the name of my nation was the reason I became involved in politics, as I vowed: Never again.

I say this as a German, as a politician and as a father:

We must keep the memory alive.

We must tell our children about the crimes committed in Theresienstadt, in Auschwitz, Birkenau and elsewhere. We must do so for the sake of our children, we must tell them so that their children will tell the next generation.

Remembering hurts, but we must teach our children how this unique crime in human history, these barbaric acts of evil could happen in one of the most modernized societies of that time.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January 2016

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, January 2016

Dear speech-fans and friends,

The last weeks of 2015 focused on the Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris and offered what we like:

logos, pathos, and ethos in many speeches, from President of Kiribati to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon …

and a selection of compelling and memorable stories, including the Conference itself.

May this reading inspire us as we start 2016: Happy New Year! 

Isabelle

 

Mr President, as Chair of this forum, I commend your leadership and your initiative.

H.E. Mr. Anote Tong, President of Kiribati, COP 21 Opening speech, 30 November 2015

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Logos Pathos Ethos, December 2015

Dear speech-fans and friends,

 

We have never heard so much French spoken by so many in the speeches delivered this last month.

For the worst reason and for the best reason:

The worst reason: because of the horrible events in Paris, of course.

The best reason: because we all know that speaking the audience’s language go straight to their hearts.

Many thanks to all of you, in Europe and beyond, who shared a quote, helped with a translation, or expressed their friendship in French.

Isabelle


Que veulent les terroristes ?
Nous diviser, nous opposer, nous jeter les uns contre les autres.
Je vous l’assure, ils échoueront.
Ils ont le culte de la mort, mais nous, nous, nous avons l’amour, l’amour de la vie.

French President François Hollande, Hommage national aux victimes des attentats du 13 novembre, 27 November 2015

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Logos Pathos Ethos, November 2015

Dear speech-fans and friends,

 

How to catch the audience’s attention?

Speechwriters’ and speakers’ recurring question.

Our selection this month focuses on refreshing openings, tangible examples, and ceremonial speeches and how they throw light on our challenges today.

 

You may also like to listen to a selection of Nobel Peace Lectures, in French and English, gathered by the radio station France culture in these times between the announcement of the Nobel Prizes (early October) and the Lectures to come (early December).

 

Even better, let’s meet! Our fellow speechwriter Jan Sonneveld – whom I met at the World conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association in Washington earlier this month – will be in town on November 25th. Save your lunchbreak to meet this talented colleague (see his Vital speech: How Speechwriting Changed Me, or his Twitter and Tumblr). A « save-the-date » is following this mail.

 

Enjoy the reading, the listening, and the networking.

Isabelle

 

A selection of refreshing openings:

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Logos Pathos Ethos, October 2015

Dear speech-fans and friends,

Challenges and how to take up these challenges: this has been the leading theme in European speeches this month.

Little surprise there are several quotes in German this time. No worry: they are so well organised that everything has its translation into English J

Viel Spaß. Enjoy the reading.

Isabelle

 

State of the European Union

Our European Union is not in a good state.

There is not enough Europe in this Union.

And there is not enough Union in this Union.

We have to change this.

And we have to change this now.

President Juncker, State of the Union 2015: Time for Honesty, Unity and Solidarity, 9 September 2015

 

What ails Europe, what ails our nations today is a poisonous cocktail of a lack of mutual trust and a lack of self-confidence. We are slow to react to challenges, we are slow to implement even the most obvious common answers, because we do not believe in ourselves, in our ability to adapt, to respond to challenges, to make tomorrow better than today. We are slow to find common answers not because there are no answers, but because we do not trust the word “common”…

First Vice President Timmermans, "Une solidarité de fait", Netherlands Institute of International Relations, 18 September 2015

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, September 2015

Dear speech-fans and friends,

This summer has been everything but quiet, which means a rich harvest of speeches.

Here is a short selection of empowering stories, varied quotes, rhythmic tricolons, and memorable antimetaboles delivered in July and August.

Welcome back !

Isabelle


Speeches to call for action

 Ladies and gentlemen, never underestimate the power of how you are, and will, transform people's lives. 

It's no small thing to show the world that what's always been done, can be done better.
So, spread your story far, wide and fast! Even the smallest of patient innovations can bring hope and happiness!

Commissioner Moedas, 13 July 2015, Sharing Solutions, Improving Life through Citizen Innovation

 

Change is happening before our eyes at an alarming pace. It is up to us to take action before it is too late.

But addressing climate change is not only about saving our planet. It is also about saving ourselves from poverty, unemployment, war, and oppression.
Why?
Because the rise in temperatures creates an entire range of effects;
from floods to heatwaves and wildfires;
from new diseases and health hazards to draughts and food shortage,
from extinction of animals to entire populations fleeing their territories in search of liveable conditions.
We cannot simply watch this happen. 

Vice-President Šefčovič, 1 July 2015, World Summit of Climate and Territories

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Logos Pathos Ethos, July 2015

Dear all,

Here is a short selection of speeches delivered this month,

together with a few other pieces - as long as they can serve our inspiration and aspiration to improve.

Once again, I would like to thank the colleagues and friends who drew my attention to some references for circulation to other speech-fans.

Isabelle

 

The noble art of speechwriting

Not too long ago, the President and I were working on a speech that we knew would get a lot of attention. (…) So two days before the speech, I handed him the first draft in the Oval Office (…). He started out by saying, “Look, this is well-written, and I could probably deliver it as is,” which almost never means he actually wants to deliver it as is. “But we have two days, so let’s make it better.”

And then he gave me one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten, one I wish he’d given me years ago. “You took a half-swing on this. Take a full swing.”

Chief White House Speechwriter Keenan, Commencement Address, 19 June 2015, selected Vital Speech of the Week

 

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Logos Pathos Ethos, June 2015

Dear all,

For your attention, here’s a short selection of speeches delivered this month, together with an older abstract you might appreciate as well.

I would like to thank the colleagues and friends who forwarded some references for circulation to other speech-fans.

Isabelle

 

If you only read one speech this month, you will find a good mix of logos, pathos and ethos in this one: President Tusk, Charlemagne Prize, 13 May 2015

 

What is then the challenge for the third generation of European unity?

Nothing less than to deliver on the promise of Europe with a ruthless determination.

President Tusk, Charlemagne Prize, 13 May 2015

 

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