The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One--How to Deliver It

As someone who has dabbled in public speaking, I found this book to be a tremendous resource for practicing the craft of speech writing. Now, if you remember anything at all from H.S. English class, you'll certainly find a few nostalgiac terms: thesis, triads, anaphora, etc. Dowis identifies a short list of powerful literary devices and speech structure (read: outline) to guide you towards best practice(s). By the end of the book, you and your understand will understand the purpose of your speech, how to write it and deliver it, and how to market/publish your material(s). That said, the aforementioned tools and knowledge gained will vary in depth throughout. Still, a worthy read. At the very least, it will prompt ideas and questions which will hopefully lead to more independent research, on the reader's part.

I've been involved in public speaking for a long time: I spent four years on my college debate team, I coached high school debate for fifteen years, I've presented dozens of staff development workshops over the years, and I'm a Distinguished Toastmaster. However, the most interesting thing I've learned about public speaking is that there's always more to learn. This book taught me a lot.The book's subtitle says that its purpose is to help speakers create great speeches: "How to Write One. How to Deliver It." I think the book accomplishes that goal. Each of the seventeen chapters discusses some element of speaking-- outlining, using statistics, practicing the speech, etc.-- and then offers an one or two examples of famous speeches that illustrate the subject. The result is a series of practical lessons about speaking, which combine into a sort of survey course.It works very well. The author is a very experienced speech writer, so he's authoritative. However, he's always careful to point out that anything he says has to be considered in light of the particular circumstances of the speech. One size does not fit all.I really liked this book. It was an excellent blend of information and entertainment. I recommend it most highly.

Dowis's book offers little more than distilled common sense. That alone is not necessarily a criticism: the same can be said of How to Win Friends and Influence People, which is a good worthwhile book.The major problem with Dowis's book is that his garrulousness was left unchecked. Often he uses five times as many words as he ought to in his explanation of an obvious idea. Insightful ideas are buried under mounds of more-than-common sense. He often meanders into tangent after tangent. Chapters often lack a unifying structure--at odds with his advice not to overburden your audience with more than just a few points! Dowis needs an editor to cut out at least 50% of this book. As it stands, it is mind-numbing to slog through.Finally, chapter 8 is an unfortunate exercise in hand-wringing anal-retentive pedantry. Plato's theory of forms was wrong, at least in the domain of language: words are more useful than they are correct. But Dowis believes in an ideal form of English, instated by the Creator, and since debased by the negligence of sinful men. Give me a break. Unless you're talking to a crowd of copywriters, nobody's going to bat an eye if you use "lie" where your 8th grade English teacher touting her copy of Strunk & White would have rapped your knuckles for not using "lay".There is one redeeming quality in the book: Dowis did a good job of selecting well-written speeches. Don't buy this book, but if you've already bought it, read the speeches he includes and skip almost everything else.

This was a book that I was genuinely disappointed to come to the end of. Dowis guides readers through the process of writing and delivering a great speech, with the ease and informality of a friend. His writing is engaging and elegant. His tips and advice are easy to understand and easy to apply in a variety of public speaking formats. I especially appreciated his descriptions of the various kinds of literary devices that make a speech sizzle such as anaphora, triads, antithesis, and metaphor/simile, to name a few. After each chapter Dowis includes transcriptions of notable historic speeches and points out the characteristics that made the speeches great. I'm sure I will reread this book and refer to it many times in the years to come.

This is an excellent introduction to writing and delivering a speech. I would have preferred more examples of great speeches, perhaps as an appendix, or at least an in-depth analysis how a few worked. I was looking for something a bit more advanced, but I would highly recommend to any one just starting to write speeches, or with little experience. It is also good for speakers.

I learned more from this book than most communication text books. I guess if you have the right degree you can get a contract for a book but to sell a book you actually have to know what you're doing.

good book. i learned more from this book than entire classes i took in college on public speaking so that makes me a fan.

This is the only book you need for basic speech preparation. Lewis covers everything from structure to grammar rules. Keep a notepad handy as you read to keep the important parts marked for later.

Great book on speeches and speech writing, exactly what I was looking for.Most of the anecdotes are about the business world, but that's Dowis background and the sector in which most speech writers like him would have been employed, so this was OK. I'm a campaigner in the voluntary sector and found all the principles and tips directly transferable to my field. Plus all of the famous speeches included at the end of each chapter are political.The only flaw and thing that niggled me a few times during the read was that Dowis has a tendency to assume the speech writer, speaker and audience will be men (except when speaking to a 'ladies' club). This can (just about) be excused on the grounds that a) it would have been tiresome to read 'he or she' each time and b) the book was written 15 years ago.Highly recommended.

"Lost Art of the great speech" is by far the most useful book I have found to improve your ability to make a better speech, not just better, a really good one. What a pity I did not read this book before the many speeches I have given. Poor listeners, poor me. The book describes just about every aspect of designing and presenting a speech with confidence. The confidence that follows from knowing that you have done everything you can to communicate your message so that listeners understand you and enjoy it.

By following the advice in this book, and by paying attention to the example at the end of each chapter, one should be capable of turning out a good, if not necessarily a brilliant speech. Brilliant takes a lot more work :-) To help with improving brilliance, I would recommend that you also study the elements of rhetoric in greater detail, than this book delves into, even though it covers the essentials. To that end, Language Intelligence by Joseph R. Romm would be a sound choice.

It's written in a really logical manner which means you can use it as a reference as you prepare a speech and it uses wonderful examples not just of each point it makes but some inpiring excerpts from famous speeches.A really good read even if you weren't writing a speech but given I'm preparing to teach others to do it I can't recommend this book highly enough.If only someone English could produce something as useful as this - there is a little drawback in this book of him using examples from the Georgia, USA business world a lot - but they are still clear so no matter.

I think this book is absolutely great and is well worth a read. This book gives examples of great speeches from the past which serves as the perfect inspiration to develop your own. I recently combined his ideas with some from two other books and received a standing ovation... I can't give higher praise than that! Must buy!