How To Speak Like Sir Winston Churchill by Prof. James Humes

[CBfrmcardiff]

@searcherboy Anyway, why would Neo-Cons have a problem with imperialism or with a tough attitude towards insurgencies? If anything, that would attract them. Or with his being a social reformer. But, really, read what Churchill wrote and said and what he chose to stand for and he's a pretty inspirational personality.

[searcherboy]

The Neoconservative/Republican enthusiasm for Churchill is a bit of a fraud. The Cons focus on the 5 years of Churchill's wartime prime ministership, and ignore much of what he worked to achieve during the rest of his 64-year political career. Churchill was a progressive social reformer as a young cabinet minister. He was a reactionary Imperialist who opposed democracy everywhere in the British Empire. He hated Gandhi and sent the Black and Tans into Ireland to kill civilians.

[grm256]

Sir Winston Churchill was and will remain one of the best speakers of all time. My grandparents still get tears in their eyes when they tell me about how the met him...He was the best leader of the last hundred years, if not one of the best of all time.

[tjwalker]

I loved Prof. Hume's book on Churchill too.

[adaml327]

Great post. One correction to your summary though - James Humes was a Professor at University of Southern Colorado (not California).

[xeroxmop]

Candidates pander to the masses, not just the upper-class elites. Everyone has an equal vote now.

[titfor2tats]

I agree with you, ludachris475, that nowadays' speechwritting has no comparison to that of days gone by. Nevertheless, I don't think the reason to be that we, the people, are more stupid but that the message has been adapted to the format suitable for massive TV reach. Speeches are synthetic products done by comunication engineers, designed to maximize impact on a 30 seconds appearence: plain language, symplified argumentation and a photogenic sincere-looking smile.

[ludachris475]

Winning lines?

Most modern speechwriting today is a miserable, hapless, pastiche of pure crap. This is due in part to the fact that the populace is so stupid nowadays that the average speech is written at a third grade level. I have seldom heard a decent speech in my entire gestation and I probably never will again.

[matt2house]

Well I wouldn't lose too much faith just as yet mate.