The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write It * How to Deliver It

Chapter One. Opportunity Knocks

Winston Churchill was arguably the most eloquent and dynamic speaker of the twentieth century. During the bleakest days of World War II, the great man used his eloquence and the medium of radio to inspire his countrymen and bolster their resolve to fight on to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Nazi war machine. His words brought hope and courage to millions of Britons who, in those terrible times, had little else to cling to, knowing that the survival of their empire and their way of life was at stake.

Who can forget those ringing Churchillian phrases—"the iron curtain," "their finest hour," and his most famous one, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat"? That simple but powerful phrase is ...