Public Speaking: Streaming Media

Improve and enhance your public-speaking skills with time-tested techniques and strategies used by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and other great orators. Delivered by frequent lecturer and distinguished historian Professor John R. Hale, these 12 engaging and accessible lectures offer you helpful insights no matter who your audience is.

Here, exercise and strengthen the muscles we use in shaping words, an important practice for clear expression in both professional and everyday life. After warming up the breath and voice, work out your vocal articulators using combinations of consonants and vowel sounds, followed by practice phrases and tongue twisters for enunciation and clarity.

Within the grammar of conversation, study the distinction between involved discourse, which relates to negotiating relationships, and informational discourse, which involves delivering information. Then grasp the important roles of discourse markers, small words such as so," "well," and "oh," that help organize discourse and manage our expectations in conversation.

What specific skills enabled a young state senator to become, in the space of four years, president of the United States? This program reveals a set of methods and attitudes at the core of successful communication. Presented by renowned public speaking coach Richard Greene, the video incorporates passages from many of President Obama’s finest speeches—and uses these examples to explore tone of voice (varying volume, pace, pitch, and resonance); body language (improving eye contact, openness, and listening); verbal language (avoiding jargon and using sensory-specific words); message content (sharing feelings and heartfelt goals); and fluency in visual, auditory, and kinesthetic communication styles. Includes viewable/printable educational materials.

This unique, six-part series places students of public speaking, American history, and political science front row, center at key speeches by the most eloquent orators of the 20th century. FDR, Huey Long, Generals MacArthur and Patton, and JFK share the podium with Barbara Jordan, Ronald Reagan, Mario Cuomo, Jesse Jackson, and others. Rare archival footage combined with insightful commentary from host Jody Powell puts each speech into historical perspective. Featured on History’s Best on PBS. 6-part series, 39-53 minutes each.

Sadhana Smiles from Australia frequently gives speeches on women's rights and other topics, and has learned much without any formal training as a public speaker. In this film, she gives her advice on public speaking.