Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln (Flashback Friday #7)

On Fridays, we dip into the article archive and emerge with one of the most memorable articles. We’ll dust it off, shine a light on it, and consider it from a new perspective.

At the request of Six Minutes readers, we’re also reviving an old tradition of spotlighting recent releases to help you enrich your public speaking library.

Resources for Speakers – Public Speaking Books

Check out these recently released public speaking and communications books:

• HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication by Harvard Business Review
• Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice by Todd Henry
• The Great American Speech: Words and Monuments by Stephen Fender
• Living Proof: Telling Your Story to Make a Difference by John Capecci and Timothy Cage
• Facilitation Basics, 2nd Edition by Donald V. McCain

Today’s Flashback Article

This week, we’re headed back to November 2011, when we learned five key lessons from one of the most famous, most quoted, and most recited speeches of all time: Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

I think that when a speech becomes famous, it’s easy to forget that the speech began just as any other speech begins: with a rough semblance of an idea brought to life by pencil and paper (or a word processor). Long before Abraham Lincoln ever delivered the Gettysburg Address, he had to write (and rewrite!) the Gettysburg Address. What can we learn from the word choices he made? What can we learn from his organizational choices? What can we learn from a speech of just 271 words that says so much?

Read the article, and let me know what wisdom you can find:

• Speech Analysis: Gettysburg Address – Abraham Lincoln