TELEVISION

Art of Public Speaking: Lessons from the Greatest Speeches in History

Demosthenes of Athens

Series: Great Courses
4.4
(52)
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Episodes
12
Rating
TVPG
Year
2010
Language
English
Publisher
The Great Courses

About

Improve and enhance your public-speaking skills with time-tested techniques and strategies used by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and other great orators. Delivered by frequent lecturer and distinguished historian Professor John R. Hale, these 12 engaging and accessible lectures offer you helpful insights no matter who your audience is.

Related Subjects

Episodes

1 to 3 of 12

1. Overcome Obstacles

30m

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Here, Professor Hale outlines the goals of the course. Then, he introduces you to Demosthenes - the ancient Greek orator whose life and career illustrates how practice, hard work, memorization, the acceptance of early failures, and other skills are essential to overcoming obstacles from stage fright to speech impediments.

2. Practice Your Delivery

30m

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Key to effective speaking is using your voice and body to reinforce your meaning. Using examples from Patrick Henry, Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, and others, learn how the power of a speech lies not so much in words as in vocal and physical elements like tone, pitch, facial expression, and posture.

3. Be Yourself

30m

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In order to make the deepest possible connection with your audience, it's essential to talk about yourself. This lecture provides you with advice on opening up to people about yourself - your experiences, your emotions, even your weaknesses - with some lessons taken from speeches by Elizabeth I and Sojourner Truth.

4. Find Your Humorous Voice

30m

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Learn how to use humorous techniques such as hyperbole, incongruity, and surprise - even when your speech is of the utmost seriousness. The secret of effective humor, as speeches by Will Rogers and others show, is to ensure that each laugh makes a point and focuses your audience's attention on the topic.

5. Make It a Story

30m

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Turn now to a series of lectures on composing effective speeches. Here, investigate the benefits of organizing information into a story to give your details weight and vividness. One powerful example of this concept at work: Marie Curie using storytelling to explain the complexities of radium - and to make them memorable.

6. Use the Power of Three

30m

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What is the power of three? And why is it so important to writing a great speech? Find out as Professor Hale unpacks the 13th chapter from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians to demonstrate why a speech - and the examples and anecdotes it uses - should be planned in threes.

Extended Details

  • Closed CaptionsEnglish

Artists

John R. Halewriter
John R. Haleactor

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