Geoffrey Rush Quotes

Standing up here 10 in a row, you know, like a bunch of seals waiting for somebody to throw you the next fish, is not necessarily the best way to impart your information to the American people. I'm not above acting like a seal every once in a while and waiting for the next fish, I just don't want to do it all the time.

I have spoken to expert audiences occasionally, but then no audience is expert over the whole range of things I want to explore.

This is unusual for me. I have given readings and not lectures. I have told people who ask for lectures that I have no lecture to give. And that is true.

When a man is asked to make a speech, the first thing he has to decide is what to say.

Speeches are much easier if you read them. I just find when I do that, it's harder to fire up the crowd.

And, finally, Lincoln was not a good impromptu speaker; he was at his best when he could read from a carefully prepared manuscript. Though maybe a teleprompter could have helped that!

Most speakers speak ten minutes too long.

Ultimately, the best speakers are the ones who have put 10,000 hours into listening.

When you're standing in front of an audience like this that is so enthusiastic and so much behind you, it is very hard to give a bad speech. Even a bad speech sounds good in a convention hall like this.

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

Long speeches work if they’re filled with substance.

Then there was a maiden speech, so inaudible that it was doubted whether, after all, the young orator really did lose his virginity.

To make a politic speech is like being carried up a flight of steps by the pressure of a crowd.

The best way to study about speech writing is to read great speeches.

Go ahead, Teleprompter, Go ahead!

I was very nervous about giving speeches for a long time.

I've always loved public speaking, and that's something I definitely will pursue after the Olympics.

My early years as a 'speaker' involved note cards that shook like a leaf while I held them because I was so nervous.

I didn't think I was much of a public speaker.

One thing that I have noticed is that whatever be the function, however poignant or serious, the audience always prefers a speech laced with a bit of humor.

Always, with speeches, I feel like it's an opportunity to say something.

I'll never forget my first moment of looking out on a convention audience with my mouth open like they were kidding me.

Ah, the first rule of public speaking -- always start with a joke.

I never write jokes, I just try to make myself laugh.

Oratory, like the drama, abhors lengthiness; like the drama, it must keep doing. It avoids, as frigid, prolonged metaphysical soliloquy. Beauties themselves, if they delay or distract the effect which should be produced on the audience, become blemishes.