Winston Churchill
Click here to hear the speech then read on to learn the lessons …

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fi ght on the landing
grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall
fi ght in the hills; we shall never surrender."
House of Commons speech, Westminster, London, UK, Tuesday 4 June 1940

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (born 30 November 1874; died 24 January 1965) is possibly Britain’s most popular prime minister, famed for his strength of character and exemplary leadership during World War II and for his oratory which inspired Britain during periods when all seemed lost. He was twice prime minister, from 1940 to 1945 and 1951 to 1955. On his own admission later in life, he claimed to have much enjoyed being a soldier, a journalist, a historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, a water colourist and, to provide himself with therapy during World War II, a bricklayer.

Tthe power to inspire audiences could be learned; Churchill had a stutter and found public speaking both nerve-racking and difficult. However, his speeches became legends. His wit and powerful eloquence have inspired millions. Even today, his face and voice is recognized around the world. He inspires so many people-from teachers and soldiers, students pursuing online nursing degrees, leaders and youth. There are statues honoring him in dozens of cities. His speeches are famous, still today. Churchill’s first speech in the House of Commons as prime minister was given after the withdrawal of British forces from Dunkirk, France. In the speech, Churchill had to balance the fact that the nation was relieved at the safe withdrawal (and rescue) of its troops with relatively little loss of life with the need for determination in the hard struggle ahead:

“Even though large parts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.”

Lessons from Winston Churchill
View oratory as both an art and a science. Churchill understood the effect that could be achieved by combining structure with rhythm, hard reason with flowing language, facts with humour. He used various rhetorical devices, such as anaphora, the repetition of a phrase at the beginning of a series of short sentences (“We shall fight ...”), or asyndeton, the joining together of related phrases without conjunctions, allowing the speaker to pick up pace, tell a narrative, add facts – to build an argument or a point. For example, in this speech:

“In a long series of very fierce battles, now on this front, now on that, fighting on three fronts at once, battles fought by two or three divisions against an equal or sometimes larger number of the enemy, and fought very fiercely on old ground so many of us knew so well, our losses in men exceed 30,000 in killed, wounded and missing ...”

Use structure to full effect. Sir Winston Churchill won the Nobel prize for literature in 1953 and his speeches display many literary techniques: a strong introduction, quotations, rhetorical questions, literary paraphrasing, and powerful conclusions that both summarize the speech and provide a memorable final point. For example, on 18 June 1940 Churchill concluded a powerful speech to parliament with the words:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say,‘ This was their finest hour’.”

Find memorable metaphors and images. This requires confidence and
bold imagination. When Churchill spoke in Fulton, Missouri, on 5 March
1946 he used several phrases that are still in popular use, referring to “the
sinews of peace” and “the special relationship”, for example. He also said:

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.”

Refer to others’ great oratory. It’s highly likely that Churchill will have known Pericles’s funeral speech well and certainly he must have had it in mind for some of his wartime speeches. According to some translations, Pericles uses the phrase “blood and toil”, which seems very like a hint of Churchill's famous phrase.

A Legacy
In a long political career Churchill made many mistakes – for example, launching the ill-fated Gallipoli landings. He also held views that have since proved to be outdated. For example, during the first half of the 1930s, he was outspoken in his opposition to granting Dominion status to India. What he left, however, is enormous and undiminished; it can be divided into two areas. First, his practical accomplishments, notably leading the free world and rallying people to defeat fascism, and, second, his intangible successes. Prominent among these is his legacy, permanently embraced by the British people, of a "bulldog spirit" or "spirit of the blitz" – an attitude that would not allow defeat to enter the lexicon. He has come to symbolize a tough, intelligent, principled and ultimately successful defiance - and his words were vital in achieving this success. Without him, it is frequently argued, Britain (and indeed other nations) might well have succumbed during World War II.