Public Speech--A Defining Moment in American Communication

Today commemorates a defining moment in American communication. A moment marked by a speech broadcast over the air waves that continues to have an impact on Americans today.
No, I am not talking about Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech delivered August 28, 1963 on the National Mall in Washington. That certainly is a defining moment and one of the best American speeches.

I'm referring to a lesser known defining moment--the first radio commercial.
Eighty-five years ago today, station WEAF (which later became WNBC and WFAN) in New York broadcast the first radio commercial. The real estate promotion was 10-minutes long, and was read live by a representative of the advertiser.

How times have changed. Today many radio spots are 10-seconds long. Lesson for speakers? Brevity is not only a sign of wit, but also of wisdom.

Comments

[Lou Hampton]

Thanks for the comment. An excellent example of how less can be more.

In a July post, I linked to an example of how Abe could have "improved" his speech by using Powerpoint. Here's the link to that post.
http://www.speaktolead.com/2007/06/powerpoint_pres.html

[Kyrm Hickman]

Lou:

There was another speech a number of years before that bears out the same point.

On Nov 19, 1863 former Secretary of State Edward Everett spoke at Gettysburg for two hours...

while President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address lasted two minutes.

Kyrm