What can leaders learn from the best speeches of all time?

Whether you are wanting to succeed with hybrid working, are keen to build a more inclusive culture, or perhaps most significantly of all, want to engage, excite and inspire colleagues, customers and others, communication, and speeches in particular, are a vital and often neglected, pillar of leadership.

With this in mind it is worth taking a moment to reflect on lessons for 21st century leaders from history’s greatest speeches.

First, give of yourself; be personal, open and show your passion. This helps to build rapport and trust and give your audience confidence in your words. Simply put, it helps your listeners if they get to know you, for example, by giving personal insights in to your own life.

There are several notable examples: Barack Obama often refers to his wife and children, and Sebastian Coe opened his presentation in Singapore for London’s application to host the 2012 Olympics with a very personal, engaging story:

“I stand here today because of the inspiration of the Olympic Movement. When I was 12…I was marched into a large school hall with my classmates. We sat in front of an ancient, black and white TV and watched grainy pictures from the Mexico Olympic Games. Two athletes from our home town were competing. John Sherwood won a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles. His wife Sheila just narrowly missed gold in the long jump. That day a window to a new world opened for me. By the time I was back in my classroom, I knew what I wanted to do and what I wanted to be.”

Next, ‘own’ the speech: believe your words. This matters because people value authenticity, and because people are so used to hearing speeches, they are much better at sensing when people are not genuine (unlike, for example, 100 years ago).

Whenever appropriate be bold, inspirational, and give a compelling vision. In September 1962 US President John F Kennedy fired the starting gun that eventually put a man on the moon, with these words:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things – not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our abilities and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

Show empathy, understand your audience and appeal to their values. Who are your constituents? What do they think or want? How are they likely to respond? What do you want from them?

For example, Winston Churchill understood that people wanted a confident, defiant, resolute leader, together with clarity and purpose. Churchill faced a dizzying array of issues spinning around him constantly. Despite this, he never lost sight of his audience, their needs, and the power of a rousing speech.

Be honest, fair and remember that people respond well to universal values. Integrity, reasonableness, courage, respect: typically, we want them for ourselves and we value them in others.

And these virtues translate across cultures (generational as well as geographic). So when you speak, show that you are a decent member of the human race.

Great speeches inspire by being personal, bold, ambitious and attractive. Not mediocre, impersonal or confusing.

Crucially, look to master the essentials. This means you should prepare, be yourself, pay attention to physicality (breathing, posture, gestures), give your speech a clear theme or message, share stories, illustrations and examples, and be yourself; remember that authenticity and sincerity matter.

It helps to remember the speechwriters’ craft and techniques. US Presidents cornered the market on many of these, for example:

• Chiasmus (the reversible raincoat) is another useful technique where the words in one phrase or clause are reversed in the next. For example, from US President Kennedy’s inaugural address: “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
• Parallelisms are a balanced, rhythmic sentence structure that succeeds by being persistent – often using successive words or phrases with the same or similar grammatical structure. Again, Kennedy’s inaugural provides a great example: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
• A symploce is also powerful, with the first and last word or words in successive sentences being repeated. For example, when Kennedy spoke at the Berlin Wall in June 1963 he said: “There are many people in the world who really don’t understand, or say they don’t, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass’ sie nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.”

Often leaders today need to issue a challenge, raise morale, encourage a different approach or set a new direction. Margaret Thatcher focused on this with a speech in 1980, early in her premiership, when she shared her personal view that would come to shape her vision of the way forward:

“It is sometimes said that because of our past we, as a people, expect too much and set our sights too high. That is not the way I see it. Rather it seems to me that throughout my life in politics, our ambitions have steadily shrunk. Our response to disappointment has not been to lengthen our stride, but to shorten the distance to be covered. But with confidence in ourselves and in our future what a nation we could be!”

One final thought: invariably the best, most engaging communicators show the best possible version of themselves: their values and instincts shine through.

One reason Barack Obama is so popular is because he appeals to our emotions and aspirations with his personality, powerfully conveyed through his words. That is surely a valuable attribute for any leader.

Want to see great speakers in action? UNLEASH America is back for 2023 – get more info here.