The best talks of some outstanding speakers

To get inspired and improve your speaking skills, check out dozens of speeches compiled in our online library!

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Speeches that made history


The best political speeches

The best academic speeches

The best media speeches

 

The best scientific speeches

The best university speeches

The best fictional speeches

 

Download the free guide to preparing your speeches

Public speaking is an essential skill. It is an indispensable tool for communicating ideas, sharing information and influencing others.

Over the past fifteen years, Brightness has accompanied the greatest French orators.

If you'd like to prepare for your next speaking engagement and get the best advice on how to be inspiring and convincing on stage, read this concise guide. You'll find all the steps you need to prepare for a successful speech.

The best political speeches


NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

The Farewell to Fontainebleau
20 April 1814

Text of the speech

GEORGES CLÉMENCEAU

Investiture speech
20 November 1917

Text of the speech

ARISTIDE BRIAND

Speech to the League of Nations
07 September 1929

Recording of the speech

 

LÉON BLUM

Republic Day
06 September 1936

Recording of the speech

FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND

"To all freedom fighters"
20 October 1981

Video of the speech

JACQUES CHIRAC

Commemoration of the Vél' d'Hiv Round-up
16 July 1995

Video of the speech

 
 

The best academic speeches


VOLTAIRE

Speech to the Académie Française
09 May 1746

Text of the speech

VICTOR HUGO

Speech to the National Assembly
09 July 1849

Text of the speech

ANDRÉ MAUROIS

Tribute to Victor Hugo
10 June 1952

Text of the speech

 

JEAN COCTEAU

Speech at the Académie Française
20 October 1955

Text of the speech

ALBERT CAMUS

Speech by the Nobel Prize in Literature
10 December 1957

Video of the speech

JEAN D'ORMESSON

Speech at the Académie Française
06 June 1974

Text of the speech

 

MARGUERITE YOURCENAR

Speech at the Académie Française
22 January 1981

Video of the speech

MICHEL SERRES

Speech at the Académie Française
31 January 1991

Video of the speech

SIMONE VEIL

Speech at the Académie Française
18 March 2010

Video of the speech

 
 

The best media speeches


ABBE PIERRE

The Insurrection of Goodness
1 February 1954

Recording of the speech

LINO VENTURA

Appeal for the Perce-Neige Association
06 December 1965

Video of the speech

GEORGES BRASSENS

La Liberté
01 January 1969

Video of the speech

 

JACQUES BREL

Talent is desire
Spring 1971

Video of the speech

JEAN GABIN

The last interview
21 December 1979

Video of the speech

DANIEL BALAVOINE

Youth despair
19 March 1980

Video of the speech

 

YVES MONTAND

Long live the crisis!
22 February 1984

Video of the speech

SERGE GAINSBOURG

The 500 franc note
11 March 1984

Video of the speech

COLUMN

The appeal of the restos du cœur
26 September 1985

Recording of the speech

 
 

The best scientific speeches


JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT

Preliminary speech of the Encyclopaedia
1751

Text of the speech

STANISLAS LESZCZYNSKI

Discourses on the Sciences and Arts
September 1751

Text of the speech

ROBERT OPPENHEIMER

The regrets of the father of the Bomb
16 July 1945

Video of the speech

 

ALBERT EINSTEIN

The God Letter
03 January 1954

Text of the speech

AUGUST LIGHT

The birth of the cinematograph
10 April 1955

Video of the speech

ISAAC ASIMOV

Computer predictions
01 January 1974

Video of the speech

 

PIERRE BOURDIEU

Presentation of the book "La Distinction"
21 December 1979

Video of the speech

CLAUDE LEVI STRAUSS

Definition of ethnology
04 May 1984

Video of the speech

CARL SAGAN

A pale blue dot
13 October 1994

Video of the speech

 
 

The best university speeches


STEVE JOBS

Stanford University
12 June 2005

Video of the speech (VO)

J. K. ROWLING

Harvard University
05 June 2008

Video of the speech (VO)

JEFF BEZOS

Princeton University
30 May 2010

Video of the speech (VO)

 

MICHELLE OBAMA

Eastern Kentucky University
11 May 2013

Video of the speech (VO)

MARTIN SCORSESE

Tisch School of theArts
23 May 2014

Video of the speech (VO)

TIM COOK

George Washington University
17 May 2015

Video of the speech (VO)

 

SPIKE LEE

Johns Hopkins University
18 May 2016

Video of the speech (VO)

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Harvard University
26 May 2016

Video of the speech (VO)

EMMANUEL FABER

HEC Paris
10 June 2016

Video of the speech (VO)

 
 

The best fictional speeches


CHARLIE CHAPLIN

The Dictator's final speech
15 October 1940

Video of the speech (VF)

JAFFAR

The Time Masters
24 March 1982

Video of the speech (VF)

ARAGORN

The Lord of the Rings
1 December 2003

Video of the speech (VF)

 

ANDREW RYAN

Bioshock
21 August 2007

Video of the speech (VF)

ELIZABETH SWANN

Pirates of the Caribbean
25 May 2007

Video of the speech (VF)

DON DRAPER

Mad Men
18 October 2007

Video of the speech (VF)

 

CAPTAIN KIRRAHE

Mass Effect
20 November 2007

Video of the speech (VF)

HARVEY MILK

Harvey Milk
28 October 2008

Video of the speech (VF)

CLINT EASTWOOD

Gran Torino
17 December 2008

Video of the speech (VF)

 
 

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