It’s often just a few words that make a speech timeless. John F. Kennedy’s exclamation “I am a Berliner” went down in history, as did Ronald Reagan’s request: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The whole world associates three words with Barack Obama: “Yes, we can!” A good speech needs compression that makes it memorable and quotable, a substantive anchor that the audience can hold on to. Great speeches have a certain quality of text,
