Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln

21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers

By: James C. Humes

Narrated by: Norman Dietz

Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Ever wish you could captivate your boardroom with the opening line of your presentation, like Winston Churchill in his most memorable speeches? Or want to command attention by looming larger than life before your audience, much like Abraham Lincoln when, standing erect and wearing a top hat, he towered over seven feet? Now, you can master presentation skills, wow your audience, and shoot up the corporate ladder by unlocking the secrets of history's greatest speakers.

Author, historian, and world-renowned speaker James C. Humes - who wrote speeches for five American presidents - explains how great leaders through the ages used simple yet incredibly effective tricks to speak, persuade, and win throngs of fans and followers.

In this book, you'll discover how Napoleon Bonaparte mastered the use of the pregnant pause to grab attention, how Lady Margaret Thatcher punctuated her most serious speeches with the use of subtle props, how Ronald Reagan could win even the most hostile crowd with carefully timed wit, and much, much more. Whether you're addressing a small nation or a large staff meeting, you'll want to master the tips and tricks in Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln.

©2002 James C. Humes (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"I love this book. I've followed Humes's lessons for years, and he combines them all into one compact, hard-hitting resource. Get this book on your desk now." (Chris Matthews)

tipfull

A ton of tips. Good tempo. Will go over it again and again. Good stuff.

Excellent book

This has excellent references on improving public speech. I would highly recommend it for anyone starting out in giving presentations to large groups.

Timeless

Remains pertinent, valuable and instructive. Ordered my physical copy to study it more completely.

Full of information

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this to a friend.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln?

Very hard to narrow down one specific event. I have a plethora of notes from this book and I will likely go through it at least one more time, maybe twice.

Any additional comments?

The author was great. It's nice to hear the voice from the creator of the book. He/she will always create the inflections where best suited when he/she is reading personal work.

Best Book Ever

it gave you political theory, history , speaking tips and fundraising tips. excellent all the way through.

Very practical and important topic

It is a wonderful book and the reading is wonderful also. The issue resides in the structure of 21 power things to do. Unfortunately the author did not do what he preached, in stead of brevity and succinctness, 21 points memo is hard for most people to memorized.

Moses came down from mountain top with Ten Commandments. He knew we could not handle more than that

Helpful, moderately interesting, but dated

There is lots of good information here, especially for people who want to be better speakers and don't know where to start.

I have two issues with this otherwise excellent audiobook. First, it sounds dated and the language is dated. Second, and related to the first was how it recommends using archaic, big words to impress the listener and make a statement.

I disagree. What good is using big archaic words if no one understands what it means?

Nitpicking aside, most of what is here is good advice.

Presentation Gold!

Unlike some of the other reviews I've read.....I actually enjoyed the speakers voice!

The authors narratives gave the book an additional depth that I found highly entertaining. If you enjoy history there are a lot of fascinating first hand accounts and historical anecdotes in this book. It is very republican party biased however the techniques and tips given in the audio book are priceless and overshadow the conservative undertones. i.e power pause, props etc...

I was able to use a few of the techniques in a speech I gave a week after buying the audio book. After I finished someone in the audience said it was amazing how I had their full attention without speaking a word! i.e power pause.

Good tools but repetitive

Although this book was published in 2002, it still condenses a lot of great tools for the public speaker: his teachings did not go out of fashion. The problem is the author repeating the same examples over and over again. If he adjusted that, specially in the end of the book, I would give it 5 stars for the good content and the way he divided the topics.

Excelente título

El contenido del libro es excelente, pero la narración es muy monótona. De cualquier manera, me encantó