Sixty-five years ago, 19 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill came to Washington and spoke to a joint session of Congress. He came to cement the British-American alliance he and President Roosevelt had established, to review the British experience in the war so far, and to preview the long and difficult struggle ahead.
Despite the seriousness of the topic, Churchill uses humor at the beginning to establish a bond with his audience. To listen to his opening, click here.
This would also be a good time to read a paper Churchill wrote in 1897 while an army lieutenant on The Scaffolding of Rhetoric. In it he discusses five elements for persuasive speaking. Even though our use of language today does not have the same embellishments as Victorian English, his general points are still quite valid.



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