'The most moving thing in a speech is the logic'

“On Speaking Well”
Peggy Noonan
Regan Books


To speech writers of executives and political leaders, this book is a real find. In fact, executives and politicians should read it so they will know if their writers are doing their job well.

Indeed, the book is a real find. Ironically, it is not even displayed as part of the centerpiece of a specialty bookstore in Alabang. It is actually nestled at the bottom of a shelf. Fortunately, I read this book earlier in a clothbound edition titled, “Simply Speaking” sent from the United States.

Peggy Noonan, the author, may not be familiar to many of us here. It was she who wrote that inspired line, “A thousand points of light,” for them President George Bush. She is the same author that earned an unabashed endorsement from New Yorker: “When the subject is speech writing, the first name on every list Peggy Noonan.”

If one is to summarize the central point – and therefore the most useful tip – of this book, it is this: “The most moving thing in a speech if always the logic. It is never flowery and flourishes, it is not sentimental exhortations, it is never the faux poetry we’re all subjected to these days.”

As speech writer of former President Ronald Reagan, Noonan demolished the myth that Reagan is only a smooth talker. No, the speechwriter says. Reagan, always had something to say, and he said it very well.

In this book, the author gives us some snippets of the Reagan speeches that prove her point and – actually, some really became memorable.

One of the moving speeches was the one delivered by Reagan after the Challenger exploded in mid-air. It was a moment for sentiment. But Reagan had substance, not sentiment. These lines are in the book:

“The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them – this morning, as they prepared for their journey, and waved goodbye, and ‘slipped the surly bounds of earth’ to touch the face of God.”

Was it a moving speech? Noonan asks. Yes, very. But moving because it was serious and logical, not sentimental, flowery or poetic.

If you have read Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, have been moved by Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty or give me death,” or have inspired by “this torch shall be passed to a new generation of Americans” you will know the reason beyond explaining it for its emotional contents.

The author says, these great speakers had something great to say in the first place.
Toward the latter part of this book, the author recounts a moving and spellbinding moment when Mother Theresa spoke before a group. The delivery was simple, to the point – but every point sank in, the book delivers a strong point: “Just be you” when you speak. The author ahs also dissected recent speeches. Bill Clinton, for example, has not been spared. When I heard Clinton’s first and second inaugurals, I really felt there was something missing. Noonan tells us: “A cavalcade of clichés. But the problem was not that it was written badly. It was though badly…

The book throws in a lot of tips to speakers and speech writers – from dealing with the “jitters” to dishing out humor, from giving a rousing toast to making a moving eulogy. Always, you get advice that comes from an excellent writer.

“Make friends with your audience” is a tip that overcomes “butterflies in the stomach” and instantly establishes rapport with the listeners who mush conclude that the speaker “cares for his subject.”

The book emphasizes that the speaker should select a subject he cares about. Otherwise, the intelligent audience will catch him faking it.

This book has bias for logic, for policy and for mastering the subject matter. The author even says: “You can break rule and do fine.” And yet, there is one non-negotiable point in speech writing as far as Peggy Noonan is concerned: “Without substance, the speech will perish.”