Successful Presentation Strategies (Collection)

14. Never Say “Never”

Well, Almost Never

Sir Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minister, prolific author, and distinguished orator who addressed some of the most august assemblies in the world, once delivered a speech to the boys at Harrow School in Britain:

Never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.¹

Sir Winston spoke those words in 1941, and they have reverberated down through the decades as a model of an inspirational speech. But the prime minister was using negativity to ...