The image above was taken from Denise Graveline's blog The Eloquent Woman, where she featured speeches by women every Friday.
"I think women's speeches about women's issues are among the most powerful, and we need more of them, given the short history of women and public speaking."
– Denise Graveline on why she created Famous Speech Friday
When you think about great speeches from history, how many women speakers come to mind?
Not nearly enough. And not because there haven't been powerful women speakers.
Denise Graveline, back in 2011, created weekly posts called "Famous Speech Friday" to showcase women and their speeches, reaching back into history and also highlighting recent speeches from elected officials, professional conferences and sources like TED.
Denise Graveline (Brian Kraft Photography)
We found Graveline's blog The Eloquent Woman while researching one of our articles about Helen Keller's speeches. And we wondered why she had stopped posting. A little more research revealed that Graveline died unexpectedly in early 2018.
How fortunate we are that she left this rich resource for us all to enjoy. And what better time to highlight and appreciate her work than Women's History Month (every March, but with the coronavirus pandemic, you may well have overlooked that).
Of course, women's history is everyone's history, and you don't need to limit your appreciation to just one month.
In particular, here are three speeches featured on Graveline's blog that you might find interesting any time:
- Lillian Gilbreth on the human side of automation: The woman most of us know from Cheaper by the Dozen was also considered the "first lady of engineering."
- Shonda Rhimes "You are not alone": The creator of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal talks about the common thread among her different television series.
- Theresa May's interrupted speech: Was it all a trick? And to what end? A look at what happened when a heckler interrupted the prime minister.
And here's where you can find some of our posts about women and public speaking:
