Strong Voices is a children’s book that collects fifteen excellent American speeches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is important to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. From the Twin Falls Public Library I got a 2020 128-page children’s book with introductions by Tonya Bolden titled Strong Voices: Fifteen American Speeches Worth Knowing. The full text for each speech in this anthology is preceded by a brief biography of the speaker. Those speeches are:

 

Patrick Henry ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.’ One version of his text.

 

George Washington ‘Farewell Address.’ Excerpts and text.

 

Red Jacket ‘We Never Quarrel About Religion.’ Text.

 

Sojourner Truth “I Am a Woman’s Rights.’ Text.

 

Abraham Lincoln ‘Gettysburg Address.’ Texts.

 

Theodore Roosevelt ‘Citizenship in a Republic.’ Text.

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt ‘The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself.’ Text.

 

Lou Gehrig ‘Farewell to Baseball.’ Text and video.

 

Langston Hughes ‘On the Blacklist All Our Lives.’ Audio.

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy ‘We Choose to Go to the Moon.’ Text.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. ‘I Have a Dream.’ Excerpts.

 

Fannie Lou Hamer ‘I Question America.’ Transcript.

 

Cesar Chavez ‘Address to the Commonwealth Club of California, 1984.’ Text and audio.

 

Hillary Rodham Clinton ‘Women’s Rights Are Human Rights.’ Abridged text.

 

The Duke Cigarettes lithograph of Patrick Henry came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

A Pearls Before Swine cartoon with advice in a pie chart from life coach Rat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Pearls Before Swine cartoon on July 1, 2026 by Stephan Pastis with the following dialogue:

 

Rat: I’m now a professional life coach, and because you’re my friend I’ve decided to help you for free.

 

Pig: Oh goodie! How?

Rat: It starts with this chart I’ve drawn up showing the percentage of your life that you act like a real dum dum.

 

Pig and Rat: looking at chart [see above]

 

Rat: Do that less.

 

Pig: Somehow your help never feels like help.

Rat: Shoot. Now it’s 99%.  

 

 

A collection from 1942 of The World’s Great Speeches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we just run out of speech ideas, or suffer from writer’s block. At that point, we might want to get inspired by looking through a large collection of speeches. At the Internet Archive there is a pdf of a 748-page book titled The World’s Great Speeches, edited by Lewis Copeland. Contents are:

 

Part I: GREAT SPEECHES OF EARLIER TIMES

I.     Greece and Rome 

II.    The European Continent

III.   Great Britain and Ireland 

IV.   The United States 

V.    Canada 

VI.   South America, South Africa, India, and China 

 

Part II: GREAT SPEECHES OF OUR TIMES

VII.  American Industry and Government 

VIII. International Affairs 

IX.   The Second World War 

X.    National Defense

 

Part III: INFORMAL SPEECHES

XI.   Informal Speeches

 

Part IV: THE UNITED STATES AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR

XII.  The United States and the Second World War 12

 

TOPICAL INDEX

 

INDEX BY NATIONS

 

INDEX OF SPEAKERS

 

I created a cover using an image of fireworks modified from one at OpenClipArt. 

 

Why did a keynote speaker overestimate his research skills?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is an article by John Eades at Learnloft on June 25, 2026 titled Why Most Leaders Overestimate Their Presentation Skills which opens by stating a startling ‘statistic’ that: 

“Fear is real, and there are a couple of common things people fear.

A survey revealed that people’s two biggest fears are public speaking and death.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld landed a joke about the survey when he said, ‘Most people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.’

It’s funny because it’s true. Most people despise the idea of public speaking.”

John did such superficial research that he confused a joke with a 1973 survey where death actually was seventh. Both are shown above. And that misquote is a paraphrase of what Jerry said in 1993. Back on April 8, 2018 I blogged about Misquoting Jerry Seinfeld and inflating fear five times.

 

He also has a 9-minute YouTube video at The Leadership Lens on June 25, 2026 titled Most Leaders Think They’re Good Presenters. They’re Not. Both the article and video have some useful content:

 

“The Three Types of Presenters

 

Since leadership is more art than science, leaders can be introverted or extroverted. They are women and men. They are quiet and loud. However, after watching leaders across industries, most fall into one of three categories when presenting.

 

The Informer

The Informer knows their content cold. Their slides are detailed, their data is accurate, and their presentation is thorough. However, they confuse information transfer with communication. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but it can be boring. The audience might even learn something. Their presentations are forgettable, not because they couldn’t be better or because their content is weak, but nothing makes it stick.  

 

The Rambler

The Rambler has real experience and genuine passion. When it lands, it’s magnetic. But without structure, the audience works too hard to follow. They leave inspired by the energy but unclear on the point. The Rambler’s biggest blind spot is thinking passion is enough. While it’s better than someone who doesn’t care, passion without structure is just noise with enthusiasm.

 

The Inspirer

The Inspirer knows their content and their audience. They don’t present at people, they present for them. They use story, tension, and intentional moments to connect ideas to emotions. They take chances by using authenticity to show their true self. The audience doesn’t just remember a few of the things they said – they remember how it made them feel.”

 

 

On June 18, 2026 David Murray published his 4,493th post in the Writing Boots blog he started back in 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Murray edits the magazine Vital Speeches of the Day and runs the Professional Speechwriters Association. On June 18, 2026 he published his 4,493th post in the Writing Boots blog he had started back in 2008. It is titled Writing Boots: I Can’t Live With It, and I Can’t Live Without It. (I only have 3157 posts or ~70% of his total). I enjoy reading his blog, which he posts at almost every weekday (although Fridays usually are just a linked video).

 

He says he has used this blog:

 

"as a chance to sharpen my knives.

 

to remind myself, on muggy gray Tuesdays between magazine articles and books and other public stunts, that I exist.

 

to draw crowds by starting fights.

  

to be a self-righteous prick.

 

to write gentle poems that you wouldn’t read otherwise.

 

to make reading my thoughts, your habit.

 

to get things off by chest.

 

to settle scores.

 

to preen.

 

to figure out what I think.

 

to force myself to say something, every day.

 

to make saying something every day easy and natural. (It’s easier to write every day than once a week, a daily columnist and I agree).

 

To say whatever the fuck I want.

 

To keep from complaining that I’m not allowed to say whatever the fuck I want."

 

The writer image was cropped from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

A claim about public speaking that wasn’t really in the 2023 Chapman Survey of American Fears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article by Kathryn Janicek at LinkedIn Pulse on May 24, 2026 titled Your Body Is Sabotaging Your Speech Before You Say a Word. In her section titled The Part Nobody Prepares For she claimed:

 

“According to the Chapman University Survey of American Fears (2023), public speaking anxiety ranks among the most prevalent fears in American adults - above financial concerns and job loss for a significant portion of those surveyed.”

 

Why was she vague about the exact percentage and rank for the allegedly prevalent fear of public speaking? The survey has a web page with list of 97 fears ranked by percent. Public speaking was feared by 28.7% and only was ranked #53, which is not even in the upper half. There was not a question about financial concerns; Economic/financial collapse was #2 at 54.7% - far above public speaking. And there was not a question about job loss; Computers replacing people in the workforce was #47 at 31.6% and Being unemployed was #74 at 24.9%. On October 20, 2023 I blogged about how Corrupt government officials (60.1%) was the most common fear in the ninth 2023 Chapman Survey of American Fears. Public speaking was only ranked #53 (28.7%).

 

I also tried Google searching on the phrases “financial concerns” and “job loss” along with “Chapman survey” but came up empty.

 

But why didn’t she look at the most recent 2025 survey? On October 23, 2025 I blogged about how In the eleventh Chapman Survey of American Fears for 2025, public speaking was only ranked #46 of 67 fears at 33.7%.

 

 

Idaho’s Wassmuth Center for Human Rights celebrates its thirtieth anniversary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An article by Valentin Termite at the Idaho Capital Sun on June 18, 2026 is titled Believing in the goodness of people: Idaho human rights center celebrates 30-year anniversary. It links to their web page on Wassmuth Powerful Practices, which briefly are titled (and then also explained in detail):

 

Collect Joy

Design for Belonging

Listen Deeply

Stay Curious

Notice and Name Bright Spots

Align Actions with Values

 

To collect joy you should:

 

“Notice, savor, and share moments of connection, warmth, and delight as expressions of human dignity and belonging. Paying attention to what is life-giving cultivates hope and sustains commitment to building a better world for all.” 

 

And, to listen deeply you should:

 

“Offer your full presence to another person without interruption, judgment, or trying to fix. Seeking to understand feelings, perspectives, and needs affirms that every person matters.” 

 

On October 27, 2024 I blogged about A new building at Boise’s Wassmuth Center for Human Rights with quotations carved in stone.

 

The border for the thirtieth came from OpenClipArt.