Churchill: A Study in Oratory Seven Lessons in Speechmaking From One of the Greatest Orators of All Time
By Thomas Montalbo, DTM
Published in Finest Hour 69
He wasn't a natural orator (=someone who is good at making speeches and persuading people), not at all. His voice was raspy (=If someone has a raspy voice, they make rough sounds as if they have a sore throat or have difficulty in breathing). A stammer and a lisp often marred (=to make less effective, spoil) many of his speeches. Nor was his appearance attractive. A snub nose (=a snub nose is short and flat and points slightly upwards) and a jutting (=sticking out) lower lip made him look like a bulldog. Short and fat, he was also stoop-shouldered (=bent forwards and down).
Yet this man—Sir Winston Churchill—became probably the greatest orator of our time and won the Nobel Prize for his writings and "brilliant oratory." How did he do it? And what lessons can all Toastmasters (=someone who introduces the speakers at a formal occasion such as a banquet) learn from him to help them make better speeches?
In school, Winston Churchill was a backward student. But he wasn’t stupid. He later explained, "Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn." But the English language fascinated him. He was the best in his class.
Macaulay and Gibbon, two of England’s most famous historians, dazzled (=to make someone feel strong admiration) him with their styles of writing. The impact these authors made on his mind stayed with him for life, as his speeches show. Because their styles were markedly different and yet both charmed him, he believed this showed, as he put it, "What a fine language English is. . ."
His English teacher once said, "I do not believe that I have ever seen in a boy of 14 such a veneration (=respect) for the English language." Churchill called the English sentence "a noble thing" and said, "The only thing I would whip boys for is not knowing English. I would whip them hard for that." Lord Moran, his physician and intimate friend, wrote: "Without that feeling for words, he would have made little enough in life. -. ."
Lesson #1
for Toastmasters from Churchill:
Know, respect and love the English language.
An Avid (=doing something as much as possible) Listener The greatest influence in his early life was his father, the leader of the House of Commons. Young Winston often visited Parliament and heard all the speeches. Sitting, watching and listening, he absorbed the oratory as if by osmosis (=if you learn facts or understand ideas by osmosis, you gradually learn them by hearing them often). Devotedly, he read and reread his father’s speeches, many of which he knew by heart (=to remember all of something exactly). He also read and studied the speeches of Oliver Cromwell, William Pitt, William Gladstone and many others.
At age 21, Churchill came to the United States and met Bourke Cockran, a New York Congressman whom he described as "a remarkable man. . .with an enormous head, gleaming (=to shine softly) eyes and flexible countenance (=mental composure, expression, look)." But most of all, Churchill admired Cockran for the way he talked.
The Congressman had a thundering (=awesomely great, intense, or great) voice and often spoke in heroic and rolling (=if drums or thunder roll, they make a long low series of sounds) phrases. When Churchill asked his advice on how he could learn to spellbind (=extremely interesting and holding your attention completely) an audience of thousands, Cockran told him to speak as if he were an organ, use strong words and enunciate (to pronounce words clearly and carefully) clearly in wave-like rhythm (=a regular pattern of changes). They corresponded (=to write letters to someone and receive letters from them) for many years.
Adlai Stevenson, himself a notable speaker, often reminisced (=to talk or think about pleasant events in your past) about his last meeting with Churchill. "I asked him on whom or what he had based his oratorical style. Churchill replied, ‘It was an American statesman who inspired me and taught me how to use every note (=a particular musical sound) of the human voice like an organ.’ Winston then to my amazement started to quote long excerpts from Burke Cockran’s speeches of 60 years before. ‘He was my model,’ Churchill said. ‘I learned from him how to hold thousands in thrall (=controlled or strongly influenced by someone or something).’"
Lesson #2:
See and hear good speakers in action, and study the texts of their speeches.
Stimulated (=encouraged) by his father’s career, young Churchill’s ambition (=strong desire) was to go into politics, but he worried about his speech impediment (=a physical problem that makes speaking, hearing, or moving difficult). So he consulted a throat specialist. The doctor found no organic defect and told young Churchill only practice and perseverance (=persistence, steadfastness) would help him.
Diligently (=someone who is diligent works hard and is careful and thorough) and faithfully (=in a loyal way, in a regular way), he practiced and persevered. He believed people should never submit to (=to agree to obey, accept - give in) failure. Years later he said in a speech, "Never give in! Never give in! Never give in except to convictions (=a very strong belief or opinion) of honour and good sense."
Question: What does the bold text mean?
He rehearsed (=practised) aloud to make sure he wouldn’t muff (=say wrongly) words or stumble (=to stop or make a mistake when you are reading to people or speaking) over them, particularly words starting with "s." While walking on the street he repeated such sentences as, "The Spanish ships I cannot see since they are not in sight." Eagerly (=enthusiastically) he sought (=tried to find) opportunities to speak. All this helped him to lose the inhibition (=restriction, prevention) that had caused his stammering, though he never totally lost his lisp.An Attention-Getter
But even this turned into an advantage. Randolph Churchill once theorized that his father may have exploited (=to use something fully and effectively) the residual (=remaining) impediment to advantage to achieve an individual style (=distinctive style) of oratory. When Winston was 23 he wrote an unpublished article on oratory, "The Scaffolding (=raised platform to do a certain job) of Rhetoric." Describing the physical attributes of the orators, he wrote, "Sometimes a slight and not unpleasing stammer or impediment has been of some assistance in securing (=getting) the attention of the audience. . ."