Quotations For Speakers

PREPARING A SPEECH
It takes three weeks to write a good impromptu speech.
Mark Twain

RESEARCH

• George Orwell, (Jun 25, 1903-Jan 2, 1950) author of 1984.
• The best books tell you things you know already.

GET STARTED

• A work which is well begun is already half done. (Roman poet Horace)

CLARITY
Be clear.

• George Orwell, (Jun 25, 1903-Jan 2, 1950) author of 1984.
• Never use a long word when a short one will dol

The best writing is rewriting.

E B White, author of Charlotte's Web; and a book on style.

ORIGINALITY
Always be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland

DELIVERY
Stand and delivery.

FEAR OF SPEAKING
You worry too much.
Rumi

Keep calm and carry on.
Pre-war government poster. UK 1939.

SMILING
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
William Arthur Ward

SELF-CENSORSHIP
Too much information.

Loose lips sink ships.
USA. WWII.

WELCOME

SPEAKING
Speech is given to us to clothe our thoughts.
Talleyrand

LISTENING
None so deaf as those that will not hear.

BREVITY
Stand up, speak up, shut up.

Apologies for the long letter. I did not have time to write a short one.

CALL TO ACTION
Do what I say, not what I do.

PERSISTENCE
Never, never, never give up.
Winston Churchill

I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
William Ernest Henley.

OBITUARY
Tussser, they tell me, when you were alive
You taught thrift, but you yourself could never thrive
So like the whetstone, many men are won't
To sharpen others, when they themselves stay blunt.

THANKS
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
William Arthur Ward

APPLAUSE & PRAISE
I can live for two months on a good compliment.
Mark Twain

CRITICISM


DYING ON STAGE
There are three speeches: The one you wrote. The one you gave. And the one you wish you had given.
US President

DYING OFF STAGE
Death is often referred to as a good career move.
Buddy Holly. (The Day The Music Died.)

Reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated.
Mark Twain

I told you I was ill.
Spike Milligan's gravestone.

Angela Lansbury is the author of Quick Quotations for Successful Speeches.
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