Great Speeches For Better Speaking (Book + Audio CD): Listen and Learn from History's Most Memorable Speeches

by Michael E. Eidenmuller

Master the art of persuasion with lessons from the best speakers of our time. Throughout history, they have moved us. They have enlightened and inspired us. They are our nation's most influential speakers, gifted with the talent to change minds and hearts. What is the almost magical power they possess--and how can you harness it for yourself? The answers are here in this illuminating guide to unforgettable oratory. Complete with a ninety-minute CD featuring six great speeches in their entirety, this tool kit for speakers takes you through an in-depth analysis of these historically significant speeches and the secrets of their eloquent effectiveness. With close examination of each speech, you'll get lessons on how to:

209 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2008

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Speeches provided a contemporary analysis of modern speeches that is helpful to those interested in rhetoric. However, the concept of rhetoric has not changed since the days of Aristotle. There is a selection from the champion of limited government and great communicator Ronald Reagan, but it is not one of his political speeches, rather an eulogy on the Challenger disaster. THe book considers speeches selected from John Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, Barbara Jordan, Mary Fisher against the traditional, yet uncontroversial selection from Douglas MacArthur.

Still, the analysis is informative and presented well and the selected speeches are all excellent. Note also that John Kennedy's inaugural was much more of a conservative position on national defense than modern liberals might give, even though he did not see many limits to federal government and included action on poverty and disease among the purposes of government.

The contrarian position of Plato, that the written word is more powerful, stands mostly on the grounds of logical completeness, while great oratory generally presents a biased perspective on issues. I enjoyed the book and will use the concepts when I analyze speeches more significant to me.

[Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

The principle of this book is learning from examples. It chooses several great speakers and one speech for each speaker. The scripts of each speech is given as well as a review for the script. The purpose of each sentence and paragraph is carefully examined. The book also comes with a CD. So the reader can feel the charisma of the speakers. I think the best way to read this book is to read the script many times or recite the script. If one can do that, everything will follow.

[M. Azhaari Shah Sulaiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that is great to talk about this book is that it's not a theory book on speech communication but more to showing examples of great speeches for us to learn from them.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally well done. A must for any beginning orator or those interested in the history of rhetoric in modern America.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am of the general opinion that you can't get enough books of speeches, this one is not a terribly useful addition to the field. There are only a handful of speeches, the analysis is very simple, and the accompanying cd is audio-only. Surely in this plugged-in era a book like this should have video? Virtually all these speeches are easily found on YouTube.