Free About 1 hr0 learners Rev. 2026-10-28 0

Around the age of twelve, an enslaved boy in Baltimore spent fifty cents on a battered schoolbook full of speeches and read it every chance he got. Frederick Douglass grew up to be one of the most powerful speakers in American history, and he never forgot that he had learned it, line by line, rather than been born with it. That is the good news about public speaking: almost everything that separates a shaky speech from a strong one can be taught.

Here you will plan a talk around the people who will actually hear it, find the one sentence your speech is really about, back it with evidence a skeptical room will accept, and get through the racing heart that hits nearly everyone at the lectern. You will also learn where honest persuasion ends and manipulation begins, and how to hold your own at a council meeting, a hearing, a wedding or a funeral. Lincoln, Douglass, Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony show how it is done.

Levels

  1. 1 1. Why Speaking Matters 5-question quiz
  2. 2 2. Knowing Your Audience 5-question quiz
  3. 3 3. Purpose, Central Idea and Structure 5-question quiz
  4. 4 4. Evidence and Credibility 5-question quiz
  5. 5 5. Delivery and Nerves 5-question quiz
  6. 6 6. Visual Aids 5-question quiz
  7. 7 7. Persuasion Without Manipulation 5-question quiz
  8. 8 8. Speaking in Public Life 5-question quiz

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