Winston Churchill and his Great Speeches

Winston Churchil’s memorable speeches he gave to England during WWII is something that stands out to me and makes Churchill someone I greatly admire as a public speaker/communicator.

What I admire about this person’s communication style is that he uses an appropriate tone in his voice for a time of war. He speaks with a high sense of optimism in overcoming Germany, but in a very serious, direct tone that is necessary given it’s a time of war. I admire that although he is the Prime Minister, he speaks to his people as he relates to them on a very common level. When he starts his “Never Give In” speech, he begins with “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat,” showing how like his people, he is also deeply affected by the war and understands the tragic circumstances that his audience is going through.

He also never uses ‘you’ in his speeches when referring to what his audience should be doing in war. Rather, he uses ‘our’, ‘us’, and especially ‘we’ to include himself as a fighter with his people- “We are the masters of our Fate”, “Salvation will not be denied us,” and “We Shall Never Surrender”.

The structure of his speeches are well organized; he starts off addressing his people on a common level to relate and draw them in. He’ll speak about the accomplishments of England and how far his country has come during the war to raise their spirits. He then finally motivates his citizens to persevere and fight back against the odds.

As a listener, it is impactful as the man I am listening to is relating to me on the same level and is fighting together with me to overcome the odds. He sounds very confident and defiant when standing up against a superior firepower country. In the end, he was successfully able to motivate and rally his country to not back down, and was eventually able to overcome Germany with the help of the Allies.

Factors of good communication for me involve this ability to use a very appropriate tone for the situation and type of people that you are speaking to, and also be confident when speaking. It’s also important to draw your audience in at the beginning, get them to listen, and try to make them feel different by the end of your speech. In Churchill’s case, his successful style of communication involved putting himself right in the shoes of his audience to lead them in war.