Speeches That Shook the World

Speechmaking is the art of persuasion Wellhoned rhetoric appeals not just to the mind but to the heart and deeper down in the guts Examining the speeches that provoked radical change surprised pundits or shocked listeners poet Simon Armitage dissects what makes a perfect speech Simon gets the inside story behind some of the famous speeches of the modern age talking to Tony Blairs speechwriter to Earl Spencer on his controversial address at his sisters funeral and the woman who challenged the rioters in Hackney We hear how Peter Tatchell confronted the BNP Paul Boateng on how Enoch Powells divisive speech personally affected him as a child and Colonel Tim Collins whose charge was to motivate his troops on the eve of the Iraq war Simon discusses the nuts and bolts of speech writing with Vincent Franklin aka the bluesky thinking guru Stuart Pearson from The Thick of It and gets tips on powerful delivery from actor Charles Dance