I go onstage and I talk, and I remember what I’m saying, and I track it.

Listen with the intent to understand, not the intent to reply.

I have never talked publicly or privately about the Jewish people, including conversations with President Nixon, except in the most positive terms.

The trouble with her is that she lacks the power of conversation but not the power of speech.

Wherever I go meeting the public… spreading a message of human values, spreading a message of harmony, is the most important thing.

I write all of my own speeches.

When you walk out onstage in front of 65,000 people, it can bring you to tears.

The most successful politician is he who says what the people are thinking most often in the loudest voice.

In oratory the will must predominate.

Tell the audience what you’re going to say, say it; then tell them what you’ve said.

I don’t even know how to speak up for myself, because I don’t really have a father who would give me the confidence or advice.

Be as polite to the custodian as you are to the chairman of the board.

When things haven’t gone well for you, call in a secretary or a staff man and chew him out. You will sleep better and they will appreciate the attention.

The most important thing for a director is being able to communicate.

I wear a hat on stage so that people won’t be blinded by the reflection from my head. Also, if I don’t wear a hat, there’s no way that the hat can be at that level by itself on the stage.

Speakers who talk about what life has taught them never fail to keep the attention of their listeners.

You know, when Michael Jackson does the moonwalk, he’s showing off! When Prince or Hendrix do a guitar solo, it’s confidence! I would hate to be at a show and some nervous wreck is sweating up there and doesn’t feel like he deserves to be there.

I knew that I was ‚interesting‘ at 18 because I was aware that I could get away with doing things on stage.

I’m mortified to be on the stage, but then again, it’s the only place where I’m happy.

A person standing in front of an audience without enthusiasm for his subject and his actions is disconnected from his spirit.

I love it when people say things to me in public and want to meet me, because I want to meet them! Early on, my manager told me, ‚If you want to sell 500,000 records, then go out there and meet 500,000 people.‘

I’ve had the honor of speaking at many commencements.

I have learned to interface – what I think would be the contemporary term – with various different lexicons, and people speak very different languages. I’ve learned to speak in a lot of tongues, and I can live with the bellicose language of some fervent, fire-breathing Christians, sure.

No matter how much you rehearse on that stage, once you add 30,000 screaming people with flashing cameras into the equation, it’s pretty intense.

In retrospect, I can see I couldn’t talk to people face to face, so I got on stage and started screaming and squealing and twitching about. Ha! Like, that sure made sense!

Who I am on stage is very, very different to who I am in real life.

You know, you can make a small mistake in language or etiquette in Britain, or you could when I was younger, and really be made to feel it, and it’s the flick of a lash, but it would sting, and especially at school where there’s not much privacy, and so on. You could, yes, undoubtedly be made to feel crushed.

I think that if I would talk on a political subject, if I talk about it, it would divide the audience on that issue. That’s not my issue.

Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable.

You can disagree without being disagreeable.

Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement.

Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. If you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of evry part of your life.

Seven hundred thousand people who have dementia in this country are not heard. I’m fortunate; I can be heard. Regrettably, it’s amazing how people listen if you stand up in public and give away $1 million for research into the disease, as I have done.

PowerPoint makes us stupid.

I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born.

It’s very intense to be in front of a live audience. It’s just an amazing experience. It’s dangerous. Everything out there is heightened. The bad stuff is extra-worse. The silences are extra-silent. The good stuff is amazing. It’s electric when you walk out there. For 90 minutes, you’re on this other planet.

Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don’t want to meet them.

A career is born in public – talent in privacy.

I’ve been known to preach.

Eventually you get to this point where you understand what you want to do and get across and sound like.

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

Example is leadership.

I could never give relationship advice to anybody!

One of the issues I kept saying to my students is you have to learn to interrupt. When you raise your hand at a meeting, by the time they get to you, the point is not germane. So the bottom line is active listening. If you are going to interrupt, you look for opportunities. You have to know what you’re talking about.

I’ve spent too much time giving speeches, traveling the world.

I always said that I wouldn’t use a teleprompter, and if I start to sing real flat, I’ll hang it up.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

It’s really fun to be on stage in front of people.

To the audience, it’s like I’m changing the subject every five seconds, but to me, my show’s almost like a 90-minute song that I know exactly. I wrote every note, and I know exactly where everything is.

I couldn’t talk to people face to face, so I got on stage and started screaming and squealing and twitching.

Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment.

If you get something right, you really feel it, right in your chest, on stage. I think it’s an incomparable experience.

There’s something about being in front of a live audience that’s fun. It’s a really interesting, very electric, very alive, and intense experience, and you can’t get it anywhere else. And I’ve been doing it since I was 23, so it’s part of my being – it’s part of my fabric as a person.

People make suggestions on what to say all the time. I’ll give you an example; I don’t read what’s handed to me. People say, ‚Here, here’s your speech, or here’s an idea for a speech.‘ They’re changed. Trust me.

When I talked to him on the phone yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President. But, in public, it’s Mr. Vice President, because that is who he is.

I’ve always had to conquer fear when I’m on stage. Basically, I was and still am a very shy person. It’s absolutely in conflict with what I do. But once I deliver the first joke I’m okay. It’s like I’m out there all by myself just delivering my lines to nobody in particular without ever trying to notice the audience in front of me.

It could be if I fight in front of one person or one million people. It’s still the same emotions.

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

I liked school, but I used to dread those moments when the teacher would call me up to give an oral report. I forced myself to deal with it and not dwell on the class in front of me – to keep a straight face, give the report and concentrate on getting it right. That’s normally how I perform. That’s how I am.