Ronald Reagan -- A Great Communicator With Some Help From Friends

Ronald Reagan was dubbed "The Great Communicator". This was for two main reasons. Some mistakenly believe the preeminently important factors in making a speech are stage and delivery. While these two are important, often these overlook a key component which separates a good delivered speech from a great speech delivered that endures. As my high school Speech teacher emphasized, the more important factor--"Content! Content! Content!" 

Ronald Reagan commented during his farewell speech that it was not so much his speech making ability that made him the "Great Communicator", but that he communicated--great ideas. As he modestly stated:

I won a nickname, "The Great Communicator." But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: It was the content. I wasn't a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn't spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation — from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in principles that have guided us for two centuries. They called it the Reagan revolution. Well, I'll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense.

Many of Ronald Reagan's speeches were written by himself. For example, one of my favorites of Ronald Reagan's speeches was his First Inaugural Address which he wrote himself. Other great speeches were a team effort of Reagan and a speech writer. 

One of the more popular speeches of Reagan's presidency is when he called for the General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, to tear down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenberg Gate. The speech writer was Peter Robinson and the story of this particular speech is very interesting. 

On February 3, 2010, Grove City College hosted Peter Robinson to discuss his work with President Reagan as a speech writer. Robinson points out that Ronald Reagan not only communicated great ideas, but he was a master of public speaking under any circumstance. He tells how one of his speeches was interrupted by a breeze that blew his notecards all over the floor. He picked up the cards and worked them back in order as he spoke even re-working the speech as he went without missing a beat. Robinson, who witnessed men flop on the delivery of speeches he had written, said Reagan took his written words and made them soar greater than even he himself had envisioned. 

Paul Kengor, who has authored at least two books on Ronald Reagan, hosts Peter Robinson for a night to sit and reminisce about his experiences as speech writer with President Ronald Reagan. If you do not understand why Ronald Reagan was known as the Great Communicator, then this forum would have been a great opportunity to attend. Fortunately, Grove City College has made the presentation available for viewing at a link entitled:


"Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall".

Here is a great opportunity to remember the former days and teach children what it means to be a great communicator, never give up, and remain true to solid principles.