Great orators and speeches

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anastrophe in the above post stated that Bill Clinton was "one of the most gifted orators of the 20th century, second only to kennedy in my opinion."

Was he? Was Kennedy a great orator? What makes a great orator anyway? Is it their words or their delivery or a combination? Do some speeches look good on paper and are lifeless when delivered by someone without the skills? Or are some speeches just written so well that even Mickey Mouse could have the audience on its feet?

For mine the greatest orator in the English-speaking world was Dr Martin Luther King. I still can't listen to his "I Have a Dream" speech without goosebumps.

Who do you think is the 20th century's greatest orator?

Perhaps it was Vince Lombardi? (That's a serious nomination by the way).

[Ocnbrz]

I think the charisma of the speaker plays a big part. Without some emotion behind the words they just don't seem to have the same impact for me. Clinton and Kennedy could really inspire those that heard their speeches. Winston Churchill springs to mind as well. Not sure I could pick just one as being the best. They all held our attention in their own time.

[spot]

Kennedy sometimes rattled through his speeches so fast that it was hard work keeping up, but well worth making the effort and yes some of his speeches were magnificent oration. The late John Smith, who would have been Prime Minister here instead of Tony Blair had he not died, was like that as well, and he held his audience spellbound on a good day. The principled but equally dead Robin Cook spoke better than most too.

The best speakers in Britain today are John Bercow and David Trimble, either of whom would be perfect leaders of the next Conservative administration but neither of whom will be.

You need an audience prepared to be won and a subject capable of arousing them and a history that resonates. Nelson Mandela is high on the list and (loathe him as you may) George Galloway. Great skills of oratory are not necessarily a guide to whom to elect - Adolf Hitler has surely to be counted the greatest orator of the 20th century and look what he did with it.

[Clint]

Good orators don’t always deliver good speeches and good speeches don’t make good orators. The most arousing speeches come from the heart of the speaker. Words on paper charismatically delivered as a speech are just words from a paper.

President Clinton can take just about anything put on paper and make it sound good…even believable… but not necessarily soul stirring. His most recent outbursts were the most passionate I can recall. Too bad he only gets that way when he is defending himself.

President Bush gave a soul stirring and arousing speech at ground zero because (I’m sure) it came from every fiber of his being. He could repeat it but it would only be words from paper with a fraction of the original spirit and never be as inspiring.

[caesar777]

I'm with spot on this, Adolf Hitler was without a doubt the greatest orator of the 20th century. Loathe him as I do there is no doubt that he had a power over his audience and managed to get a great deal of support for his hideous policies.

[chonsigirl]

Cicero was one of the best in history..................

[Bez]

Most great speakers are 'of their time' so i guess i would say :

Winston Churchill for inspiration and motivation - WW11

I personally liked to listen to Bill Clinton - can't comment on the content though

Tony Blairs speech to parliament before we went to 'war' with Iraq....convinced me anyway

Martin Luther King - memorable and inspirational

Passionate and scary.- 'Rivers of Blood' speech by Enoch Powell http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/powell_press.htm

I'll give this some more thought

Beautiful voices to listen to :

Anthony Hopkins, Richard Burton ....and they can / could tell a tale or two.