Great Leadership Speeches

Great speeches have the power to not only inform, but to inspire and to move people to action. Here is a selection of some of the best.

In April 2007 the Australian people delivered their verdict on what they believe to be the top 10 leadership speeches of all time via an ABC survey.

Here are the ones that made the final cut.

  1. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. I Have A Dream. Washington, 1963

  2. Jesus of Nazareth. Sermon on the Mount, c27

  3. Prime Minister Paul Keating. Redfern address. Sydney, 1992

  4. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. We Shall Fight on the Beaches. House of Commons, 1940

  5. President Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address, 1863

  6. President John F Kennedy. Inaugural Address, Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Washington, 1961

  7. Earl Spencer. Funeral oration for Princess Diana. London, 1997

  8. Henry V. St Crispins Day speech before the 1415 Battle of Agincourt. William Shakespeare, 1599

  9. Gough Whitlam. The Dismissal. Canberra, 1975 - Voice Recording

  10. Queen Elizabeth I. I have the heart and stomach of a king. Address to troops as Spanish Armada approached Britain, 1588