Virginia Festival of the Book: Tongue-Tied America

Molly Shadel (left) and Robert Sayler (center) speaking in the City of Charlottesville Council Chambers Thursday.

Molly Bishop Shadel and Robert Saylor, authors of Tongue-Tied America spoke Thursday on the topic of effective public speaking.

In this podcast you will hear, Shadel and Saylor give several examples of poor public speaking taken from recent Republican primary stump speeches. They then follow with examples of many great speeches including the one in which Lou Gehrig moved a nation with his speech about the disease that now bears his name. You will learn why “It’s a bird, it’s a plane it’s Superman!” is so memorable. Learn how presidential candidate Al Gore transformed himself from a poor to an excellent speaker. And, you’ll hear Robert Kennedy speak on the night Marten Luther King was assassinated.

This podcast is a must-listen for anyone who speaks in public. Following the presentation questions were taken from the audience. The program was introduced by Josh Wheeler, director of The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

Robert Sayler, co-author of Tongue-Tied America: Reviving the Art of Verbal Persuasion, is Ewald Law Professor at UVa. He was a trial lawyer in Washington, DC for thirty-five years.

Molly Shadel, is also a co-author of Tongue-Tied America: Reviving the Art of Verbal Persuasion, and a professor at the UVa School of Law. She has worked as an attorney in New York and D.C. She has also directed plays professionally.

The event was one of a series held during the Virginia Festival of the Book. The series was sponsered by The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Audio for this event was provided courtsey Charlottesville TV10.

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