“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: words without thoughts, never to heaven go” (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act lll , Sc.1) President Bill Clinton was certainly a charismatic speaker. He attracted huge audiences and will be remembered as one of the most popular U.S. presidents since John F. Kennedy. But can any of us really […]
The Great Comunicator Began as a Storyteller
Ronald Reagan didn’t set out with the intention to motivate or inspire people to serve their country as Jack Kennedy had done in the early sixties. He did not speak the language of idealism that Kennedy had done. He set out, I believe, to persuade people to accept his neo-conservative message which was based on […]
Every Speech Needs its Own Gravitas
How do we classify such different types of political speakers as Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Margaret Thatcher? Perhaps the Roman classicist, Quintilian, three categories of public speakers can help us out here. He tells us there are three basic styles: the ‘forensic’ one (plain, argumentative and suited to the law courts), the […]
