SPEECH/SPEAKER

Wise speech is rarer and more valuable than gold and rubies. Anyone who loves a pure heart and gracious speech is the king’s friend.

Proverbs 20:15; 22:11

The king is pleased with righteous lips; he loves those who speak honestly. From a wise mind comes wise speech. My child, how I will rejoice if you become wise. Yes, my heart will thrill when you speak what is right and just.

Proverbs 16:13, 23; 23:15–16

Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can crush strong opposition.

Proverbs 25:15

A perfect after-dinner speech is the shortest distance between two jokes.

Politician: “Have you heard my last speech?” Voter: “I hope so!”

It’s not always what you say but the way you say it.

Wife: “Don’t be so impolite. You’ve yawned five times while I’ve been talking to you.” Husband: “I wasn’t yawning. I was trying to say something!”

A good speech consists of a good beginning and a good ending, preferably close together.

Too many speakers need no introduction, just a conclusion.

Adam was created first—to give him a chance to say something.

Most girls have a speech impediment: they have to stop to breathe!

As a vessel is known by its sound whether it be cracked or not, so men are proved by their speeches whether they be wise or foolish.

Demosthenes

The best ingredient in the recipe for public speaking is the shortening.

Oratory: the art of making deep noises from the chest sound like important messages from the brain.

In making a good speech, it is all right to have a train of thought just as long as you make sure you also have a terminal.

Be careful what you say around children. They are like blotters: They soak it all in and get it all backward.

Speeches are like babies—easy to conceive but hard to deliver.

Pat O’Malley

There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you.

Winston Churchill

The things I say and do today

In memory’s book, I’ll keep,

And when I’m old and read them—

Will I laugh or will I weep?

Most politicians don’t bore people with long speeches; they do it with short ones.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

Mark Twain

Let us give thanks that we live in a free country where a man can say what he thinks if he isn’t afraid of his wife, his neighbors, or his boss, and if he’s sure it won’t hurt his business.

Nothing is often a very good thing to say.

Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.

The ability to speak several languages is valuable, but the art of keeping silent in one is precious.

After a speaker had talked loud and long, he asked the audience if there were any questions. A hand shot up. The speaker nodded. “What time is it?” the listener inquired.

If you haven’t struck oil in your first three minutes, stop boring.

George Jessel

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Voltaire

If your mind goes blank, be sure to turn off the sound.