As the biggest topic of today is THE Speaker……that set me off thinking who are the greatest speakers of all time.  Not Speakers of the House of Commons…but orators.

Oratory is a gift…the ability to grab hold of an audience and emotionally connect them to your words, to inspire them, to laugh, to cry…but most of all to believe.  The best orators can bring a nation with them….through good and bad times.

Remember, when reviewing this list…it’s the power of oratory that is important….this is not reviewing the content / text of speeches….

10     Roosevelt / Gandhi   / Abraham Lincoln /Margaret Thatcher

It was tough leaving some out of the top 10, hence a wider inclusion.  Margaret Thatcher was not a natural public speaker at the start of her time in power but through experience and coaching, developed into an accomplished orator, (her performance in the No Confidence debate post her resigning is the stuff of legend).  Gandhi, through his skill inspired not only a nation but the world.

9  Charles de Gaulle

De Gaulle was a powerful orator.  His speeches to the French people to rally them against the invading German troops are testament to the finest oratory of all time. 

8   Tony Blair

Tony’s greatest asset was his gifted oratory.  Against the monotone John Major, he was always going to come across stronger.  This BBC montage of Tony Blair shows his mastery of the media and ability to craft and deliver a powerful soundbite……

7  Ronald Reagan

Of course it helped that Reagan was a former actor but the guy was gifted at making public speeches.  Perhaps his finest speech was early on……take a listen to an excerpt of ‘A Time for Choosing’.  

6  Barack Obama

For me, Obama is already in the top ten speakers in history.  One of his best speeches…..so far……..was at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Founders Day Gala on Feb. 16. This is the last 10 minutes of speech, perhaps the best part. “Don’t tell me that words don’t matter,” Obama said, his voice rising with indignation and scorn.  “I have a dream. JUST WORDS.”  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. JUST WORDS.”  “We have nothing to fear but fear itself. JUST WORDS.”

 5   Bill Clinton

Bill may have been a Lothario….but he was also a great public speaker.  Here we see Bill addressing the National Democratic Convention.  Check the way he taps into the audience and wins their hearts & minds.

 4  Winston Churchill

In 1940 Winston Churchill made, what would be the defining speech of WW2′.  A powerful piece of oratory, which inspired and gave the Great British people a sense of belief, a sense of purpose and motivated a nation in War.  This speech was of course captured by the words…’we shall fight them on the beaches’……

 
3   John F Kennedy

JFK’s life was cut all too short.  He was a gifted public speaker who was ‘believable’, ‘honest’, ‘man of the people’ and inspirational.  He gave many memorable speeches including  ‘Ich Bin Ein Berliner’.  Arguably, the best was his Inaugural Address in which he asked:  ‘Ask not what your country can do for you…..’

2 Adolf Hitler

There is no doubt Hitler was a tyrant.  A mass murderer, a despicable figure that caused many many deaths across the world through his insane plans for world domination.  But this list details the best orators and there is no doubting in Hitler’s ability to inspire a crowd….to move them in ways that many speakers have been unable to achieve in History.  Yes, his elevation to power was due to a mixture of economic depression and the bullying of his opponents, but look at this video.  The sheer emotion generated—the body language in full ‘audience grabbing mode’.  The content may be disgusting but Hitler was a gifted orator.

1    Martin Luther King

I am sure many of you would agree and place MLK at number 1.  A brilliant orator.  His ‘I have a Dream’ speech still raises hairs on the back of the neck today.

Who is missing?  Agree or disagree with this list?