Chapter One. Opportunity Knocks

Winston Churchill was arguably the most eloquent and dynamic speaker of the twentieth century. During the bleakest days of World War II, the great man used his eloquence and the medium of radio to inspire his countrymen and bolster their resolve to fight on to defeat the seemingly unstoppable Nazi war machine. His words brought hope and courage to millions of Britons who, in those terrible times, had little else to cling to, knowing that the survival of their empire and their way of life was at stake.

Who can forget those ringing Churchillian phrases—"the iron curtain," "their finest hour," and his most famous one, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat"? That simple but powerful phrase is from a speech Churchill made to Parliament on May 13, 1940, shortly after he became Prime Minister. With that speech, the people of Great Britain and the rest of the world were first made aware of the bulldog determination that was to become Churchill's trademark. Listen:

You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? It is victory at all costs— victory in spite of all terrors—victory however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

And later, after the Nazis threatened to invade England:

We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

Powerful, powerful words. Words that literally might have changed the course of history.

Many years after the war, President John F. Kennedy, no mean phrasemaker himself, said of Churchill, "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." High praise, indeed, from the man who inspired his own people with "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

You may not aspire to the eloquence of a Churchill or a Kennedy. And it's extremely unlikely that you will ever have the opportunity to "mobilize the English language and send it into battle." It is quite likely, however, that you will have the opportunity to make a speech or perhaps to write a speech for someone else to deliver. And you just might be able to use such an opportunity to mobilize the language in the service of your company, church, civic club, political party, or other organization—or perhaps some special cause to which you are committed.