I began my first book, Working the Room, with the line, “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.”  Since that book came out in 2003, many people have asked me, can a speech really change the world? 

 

 

I always answer, yes, of course a speech can change the world.  Think of President Kennedy’s Inaugural Address and how it launched the Peace Corps, or his speech about putting a man on the moon, which put several men on the moon, or Martin Luther King, Jr’s speeches that brought about a change in race relations in the United States, and led ultimately to the election of President Obama.

 

But my answer really should be, every speech changes the world.  Every time.  Even the more mundane ones.  Successful speeches move people to action, inspiring them to commit to new goals, activities, and ideas. 

 

And speeches that fail?  They change the world by their very awfulness – their failure.  A bad speech is a huge opportunity lost.  Audiences come into speeches full of hope, wanting to be inspired, moved, changed in some way.  To squander that hope is to commit an act of murder – a little murder, to be sure, but murder nonetheless. 

 

The VP of sales who fails to rev up the sales force.  The CEO who fails to get the executive team behind him.  The CFO who fails to persuade people to work harder than ever to achieve those financial goals.  Each of these failures has changed the world, because an opportunity was lost, a modest hope was killed, a vision was dissipated. 

 

The next time you’re giving a speech and you’re tempted to wing it, or to give it less than your best, remember that the power of collective human energy is immense, and to waste an opportunity in front of an audience is to change the world – in a particularly sad way.   

 

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If one of the your speeches has changed the world for the better, think about entering it in the Cicero Speechwriting Awards.  It’s a chance at getting some recognition for your efforts:  http://www.cicerospeechwritingawards.com/.  The deadline is in January, so you’ve got plenty of time.  Good luck!

 

Comments

[public speaking myths]

just like obama he prove that speech can change our nation. yes we can!

[Best Man Speeches]

Speeches can absolutely change the world, who can forget Martin Luther King's legendary speech for example, but even down to speeches like a Best Man speech while they may not change the world, they can change the world of the person delivering the speech if his/her speech is received with aplomb then his/her confidence will take a huge boost and make that person feel very good about themselves.