How To Deliver a Legendary Speech
The best speeches in modern history, the importance of voice in oration, and removing the hyphen to preserve MLK's dream while ending BLM's nightmare
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. MLK’s “I Have a Dream” is one of the most iconic speeches in history. 60 years later, the most famous line of his speech has been twisted upside down through demoralization.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
MODERN REIMAGINATION: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but not by the content of their character. I have a dream that they will one day become well paid DEI commissars, marry the white men who they claim oppress them, remove a Lincoln statue, and then erect a statue in my honor that looks like a turd. I have a dream today!”
I have a dream that we remove the hyphen. We are all Americans first. Instead of African-, Asian-, or Hispanic-American, we should say American first. American of African descent. American of Italian descent. American of Irish descent. American of Korean descent. American of Mexican descent. Or just simply American. Out of many, one.
Removing the hyphen and making English the official national language would go a long way in restoring unity. BIPOC, AAPI, Latinx, and Black with a capital B are all weaponized terms to further divide us with identarian socialist demoralization. Extra spicy take: if BLM activists moved back to Africa, they would be just as detested there. Most Africans I have met who live there or recently immigrated are based, hard-working, good-natured people - the opposite of the lazy, entitled, destructive BLM crowd. Never forget the BLM founder’s grift where she used donations to buy a walled-off multi-million dollar property in 98% white Topanga Canyon.
Voice is highly underrated part of communication and persuasion. How you say something matters much more than what you say. A pleasant voice boosts charisma, gravitas, and attractiveness. Morgan Freeman, David Attenborough, and Sean Connery have immortal vocal cords. In contrast, an ugly voice is an instant turn-off. The up-speak verbal fry of AWFLs and eunuchs are worse than nails on a chalkboard. We should all be mindful of speaking more slowly and using fewer filler words. All speaking is public speaking. Oration skills are even more important for kids in an age of AI slop.
British soccer commentators make the game soothing to watch - Rebecca Lowe is one of the best in the business:
The world would be a very different place if Thomas Sowell had the rhetorical flourish and media adulation of MLK or Obama.
One of the main jobs of POTUS is to give speeches. Obama was anointed a deity after his 2004 DNC speech. He is always polished and smooth, but never says anything memorable except “You didn’t build that.” Trump is the exact opposite with his improv insult comic style. Many of his phrases will stick around for generations - “Make America Great Again”, “fake news”, and “drain the swamp”, along with a laundry list of nicknames.
His 2025 Inaugural Address was an instant classic.
In my mind, these are the most memorable speeches in recent history. What are your favorites?
JFK’s Inaugural Address: “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country.” As a straight white man who was an NRA member and stood against endless wars and the deep state, he would be considered a far-right MAGA Republican today. His assassination and LBJ’s establishment of the open borders welfare state demoralized a generation.
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address: “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence by the military industrial complex.”
Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
John Roberts’ commencement speech at Cardigan Mountain School:
From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion. Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.
Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”
Julie Hartman’s 2022 Commencement Speech deserves a Yuri subverting subversion award. The last patriotic Harvard student tried to warn us:
Movie epics
William Wallace rallying the Scots against the English: “Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live, at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”
Independence Day final battle: “And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice: We will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today we celebrate our Independence Day!”
Gladiator opening battle: “Fratres! Three weeks from now I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line. Stay with me. If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled; for you are in Elysium, and you're already dead! Brothers, what we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
King Theoden and The Ride of the Rohirrim: “Arise! Arise, riders of Theoden! Spears shall be shaken. Shields shall be splintered. A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride to ruin and the world's ending!”
Aragon at the Black Gate: “Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down. But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”
Hall of Shame: Most modern speeches are complete fluff about the current thing. Michelle Bailhe delivered a commencement speech at Brown entitled “I Don’t Know”, then proceeded to lose Sequoia $214M on FTX/SBF a few years later. You can’t make this up.
A translation of the Zohrantifada’s “Warmth of Collectivism” inaugural address:
The Warmth of Collectivism
Comrades: New York City has been conquered by the Zohrantifada woke jihad. After being sworn in on a Quran on New Years Day, Mayor Mamdani delivered a inauguration address full of radical Orwellian terms. New York, London, and Hong Kong - the three global hubs of capitalism - are now ruled by communists. Year zero has arrived at Ground Zero. Allow me to…
..."Reagan on Government " Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem. " January 20, 1981 Excerpted from Inaugural Address"...that has been exactly true since the first government was invented. And it has never been truer than it is today.
Excellent collection comrade!
Now compare this one to those shared: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww