Move over Tony Robbins. Turns out, Shakespeare may be the original motivational speaker. At the Battle of Agincourt, where prospects for victory were grim, Shakespeare has King Henry V deliver one of the greatest motivational speeches of all time: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…”
This is the famous Band of Brothers: The King’s Speech, a masterful example of how to build a persuasive argument and rally the troops. In a one-day Chesapeake Forum course on Oct. 25th, instructor Suzanne Sanders shows how Shakespeare used language, rhetorical flourishes and pacing to build passion and feeling. We could all use some help in that department!
And if positive encouragement doesn’t work, Henry has another speech that shows how to scare the wits out of people. You won’t have to make any speeches yourself, just come and learn from Shakespeare how it’s done.
Suzanne Sanders earned a B.A. in Humanities from Johns Hopkins because, hey, somebody has to balance out all those pre-med students. She has worked as a journalist, bartender, metaphysical manager, poet, full-tilt mom, and Russian translator.
“Band of Brothers: The King’s Speech” is a one (1) session course, Oct. 25th from 10-11:30 AM, in-person at the Peachblossom YMCA, Easton, ZOOM or recording. $15. To register for this or any other Chesapeake Forum course, please visit https://chesapeakeforum.org.
Chesapeake Forum is a nonprofit dedicated to providing continuing education opportunities for residents of the Eastern Shore. If you would like to receive Chesapeake Forum’s monthly newsletter, please email [email protected] with your name and preferred email
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.