Other Lincoln speeches / Addresses on this site which is maintained by Conor Cunneen who is an Irish keynote speaker living happily in Chicago.
November 19th, 1863.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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Q&A with Irish keynote speaker on Communications, Leadership and Marketing, Conor Cunneen. Conor is based in Chicago. As a keynote speaker, he is as funny as he is insightful. Conor is a former VP Marketing, Unilever Foodservice and as a keynote speaker has spoken to thousands of people in USA, Canada, Europe. Here we ask him a few questions about Lincoln’s famous speech.
Q: As a funny, motivational speaker I know you are very serious about speech development. Give me your thoughts on Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
A: Even a creative business speaker whether funny not, will have difficulty coming up with something to say about what many people believe is one of the finest speeches of all time. The thing that intrigues me the most is, how does anyone decide to travel from Washington to Gettysburg to present a speech of less than 300 words? It would take a really gutsy keynote speaker on Communications or Cancer or Foodservice to stand in front of a large audience and speak for less than three minutes.
A: Why do you think Abraham Lincoln did this?
Q: I don’t know the answer. In one sense, this short delivery was not his style. Some of his speeches (admittedly prior to the outbreak of war) went on for two hours and these were speeches from a keynote speaker who kept the audience’s attention. Lincoln would have known that Edward Everett was likely to speak for a lengthy period. The aging orator – promoted by many as the finest keynote speaker of his day - actually spoke for over two hours, so by the time Lincoln came to speak the crowd was somewhat restless.
Q: Reaction to Lincoln’s address was somewhat muted at the time, was it not?
A: Indeed it was and we shouldn’t be surprised at that. It was so short that photographers had not time to take pictures and let’s be realistic here; most people probably thought that he was only finishing his opening lines when he finished. Indeed initial reaction to the speech was muted. In his book The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows, Lincoln historian Gabor Boritt suggests the speech received little recognition until the 1880s. From my point of view as a funny, motivational, humorous keynote speaker (sorry I needed to get that in for search engines), this cannot be called a great speech, simply because it is too short, it does not contain language that generates immediate powerful reaction and bottom line is – it did not get the audience rocking and rolling. On the other hand, it is a magnificent piece of communication and writing which has stood the test of time.
