Judging speeches (and I’m not just talking about the weird Jodie Foster speech)

I’m developing a theory about judging speeches. (About time, I guess.)

It’s possible (even for the editor of Vital Speeches) to hear or read a bad speech and be fooled into thinking it is good.

But it is not possible—or at least, not nearly as likely—to hear or read a speech that is truly great and think that it is bad.

Speechwriters, do you agree with my theory? —DM