What’s this Speakola thing?
It’s a newsletter about great speeches, famous or otherwise. I’ll share snippets. stories, tips, inspiration, humour. They’ll arrive as an email, about twice a week.
Who’s the speech collector here?
It’s me, Tony Wilson, from Melbourne. I started curating the Speakola website in 2015 and then hosting a podcast in 2020. I’ve loved speeches since I drove around the block with my dad in the early eighties listening to the full audio of Dr Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’. I delivered a eulogy for my best man in 2013, and thought there should be place where people can read great speeches of all types. I told the story on Richard Fidler’s ‘Conversations’ podcast.
What’s in the email?
I’ll focus on a feature speech (or few speeches) and snip out lines that inspire, educate or entertain. I’ll try to put my history degree to good use! I’ll share ‘speech notes’ on why the speech works. I might even whisper some sweet Greek rhetorical nothings in your ear! (hello, anaphora)
Is it free?
It’s as free as you want it to be 😊 That’s the first emoji I’ve ever used. There will be a free email every week.
But I’m desperate to pay! Can I?
You can! For seven years, Speakola has been a labour of love, and its helped and inspired and won a lot of fans. So now I have turned on paid subscriptions, and if you want, you can say thanks for the thousands of hours of work with a few dollars per month. You get:
access to full archive back to December 2015
access to all new posts and audio snippets
20% discount code for all my titles and for Speakola Live events
a feeling of deep satisfaction that you’re helping somebody make something good
Still not convinced?
Maybe I put your speech up? Maybe Speakola helped you write a speech? Maybe it’s a class resource? Maybe you’ve just really liked this newsletter or the podcast for a long time? Maybe you forgot to contribute to the group present at my 50th?
Garn. Throw a dog a bone.
Will you ever stop panhandling here?
Yes, thank you for listening.
