The world affairs are governed by political leaders and speeches play a vital role in the international arena. Leaders persuade people to take certain actions within a country. They convince the public to do certain activities like cast a vote or plant a tree to reduce global warming. Politicians are just one example other people like writers, theorists, activists, revolutionaries, and scientists unveiled and use the power of speech for different purposes. Most of the time the purpose of a speech is to inform people regarding a particular issue.



What you can learn from five famous speeches

‘The Hypocrisy of American Slavery’ by Frederick Douglass

Douglas delivered his speech on 4th July 1852 in Rochester, New York. At that time he spoke against racial politics and American slavery. There were very few people who wanted to abolish the slavery and he was one of them. His words haunted the American officials as he predicted that a Civil War was prevalent if we continued slavery.

From his speech, you can learn that he was very adamant in his decision and wanted to abolish slavery at any cost. His speech elaborated on the hypocrisy of the American political system and how it was responsible for continuing slavery. Under his command, the abolitionist movement plays a major role in ending slavery. Though his activism could not abolish slavery but it created momentum and gave hope to the abolitionist movement.

‘Finest Hour’ by Winston Churchill

The speech was given in 1940 because it was a very critical time for Britain due to the start of the Second World War. At that time it was only called German invasion of Poland and Czechoslovakia. It was a failure of the world's leaders who could not predict or analyze Hitler's next move. He persuaded Parliament to take a bold stance against Germany but by that time it was too late.

From his speech, you can learn that in a speech persuasion is everything. If your audience should agree by your point of view then it means you have achieved your purpose. Churchill's words were so effective that not only politicians but locals also supported his cause. His cause came to the cause of Britain and he vehemently fought against Central Powers on political, diplomatic, war front thus ultimately securing the victory.

‘Address to the Congress, 2nd April 1917' by Woodrow Wilson


The United States of America was reluctant to participate in the First World War as the officials knew the consequences. It was one of the reasons that for the initial three years the US remained neutral. Instead, it provided necessary supplies to central and allied powers for time being and later only to the allied. The attack on its naval ships turned the opinion against Germany and Woodrow Wilson convinced Congress to declare war against Germany.


You can observe that his speech turned the tide in favor of Allied powers and Germany started to lose the war. It all started when America participated in the war which only happened due to Wilson's speech in Congress. His words were so efective that it changed the public opinion too who were also against the US involvement in the war. The persuasive techniques which he used help him to declare war against Germany.