Awesome! I have a couple of books of compiled speeches which I love to refer to from time to time.

I'll have to check this site out.

Red - any recommendations on books of compiled speeches? I'm on kind of an oratory jones lately.

My dad (a speech teacher) once gave me a book on Churchill - not just his speeches, but the origin and development of his oratorical style. Amazing book. I'm going to re-read that next (the moment I can find it...)

One of the books I have is called, I think, "Greatest Speeches of the 20th Century".

I also have another one which is just called "20th Century Speeches" - (This one includes speeches by villains, as well - Stalin, Hitler, Goebbels ... They're chilling. And very good to have, for references - if you need reminders of the evils in the world.)

Come to think of it - my books are all 20th century focused. I'm sure people made good speeches before 1900.

The "Greatest Speeches" one, though, is unbeLIEVable. I have a couple of personal favorites, which I read over at times for inspiration. Ronald Reagan's speech after the Challenger explosion is in there - But my favorite is Vaclav Havel's "contaminated moral environment" speech which he gave on Jan. 1, 1990 - when he handed Czechoslovakia back to its people in 1990, following the breakup of the USSR ... it's so so inspiring. I have a link to it on my site.

So those are two good places to start.

Sorry, it's me again. And obviously the books I have are not just American speeches.

That's OK - I'm into all types of speeches. Churchill's a particular fave. And since I minored in German and am fascinated with most things Slavic, I've read some of those speeches as well, and am always looking for more...