Donna Brazile Quotes

The people only understand what they can feel; the only orators that can affect them are those who move them.

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.

The issue is: how do you engage the audience? And one of the things I talk to our communicators about is: The outline is great; the stories are great. But how do you engage them? How do you make it feel like we are on a journey, not you are just up there giving me information.

I think that no one, or very few, are born as good presenters. It's a skill that you learn.

No man not inspired can make a good speech without preparation.

I would rather speak to 500 men that would give me their attention that to 100,000 that would not.

I never really thought of myself as a TV critic. I was presenting TV before I was writing about it.

Learning how to communicate to big audiences, and how to frame a message in a way that works in a sound-bite world, that for me is very challenging.

I spent my career trying to speak to the broadest possible audience whether it's in print or whether it's in television.

There is only one excuse for a speaker's asking the attention of his audience: he must have either truth or entertainment for them.

It's much easier to spend a lot of time making your microphone louder than it is working on making your message more compelling.

The thing that I try to remember is that in the briefing room it's not a debate. I'm not supposed to go in there and win a debate with the press corps. If that's what I try to do, then I'm going to lose.

I can usually get the right connection with the crowd and I don't have to be jumping off ladders.

Persuasive communication involves enthusiasm, animation, audience participation, authenticity and spontaneity.

The orator puts off his individuality, and is then most eloquent when most silent. He listens while he speaks, and is a hearer along with his audience.

An orator can hardly get beyond commonplaces: if he does he gets beyond his hearers.

President Reagan was a master communicator. In this particular speech he did a brilliant job moving between the stately role of U.S. President and a national eulogist. The pain of the event was etched on his face. In 4 short minutes, he addressed five different audiences. He spoke to the collective mourners, families of the fallen, NASA employees, school children, and even took a poke at Russia. He communicated comfort and patriotism within a very short timeframe. That's not easy to do.

There is something in the eloquence of the pulpit, when it is really eloquence, which is entitled to the highest praise and honour. The preacher who can touch and affect such an heterogeneous mass of hearers, on subjects limited, and long worn thread-bare in all common hands; who can say any thing new or striking, any thing that rouses the attention, without offending the taste, or wearing out the feelings of his hearers, is a man whom one could not (in his public capacity) honour enough.

I don't know anything about press conferences." "Oh, just Google it. I'm sure someone's written an article on holding a successful one. I mean, if the President can manage it, I'm sure you can. He looks like he can barely tie his shoes without help.

A good talker, even more than a good orator, implies a good audience.

It is simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences.

Interviewing people, I don't miss that at all. I do miss kibitzing with the audience because after every show I would spend half an hour to 40 minutes talking to people.

Audience interest is directly proportionate to the presenter's preparation. You better spend time and energy on any presentations where the stakes are high. If you are trying to close a large sale or speak at a conference to an audience of potential clients, you better be ON your game. An audience can tell how much energy you spent on your presentation, which is a reflection of how much you valued their time. If they gave you an hour of their time, you need to make it worth it to them by treating their time as a valuable asset by making the content valuable to them.

I knew if I continued to look around it would be difficult for me to contain my own emotions. So I turned away from the red eyes of the crowd and looked only at the red eye of the camera, talking to all the nation.

I thoroughly believe that any man who's got anything worthwhile to say will be heard if he only says it often enough.