This list of suggested titles was compiled by Pat McNees and Joan Detz.
FOR THE SPEECHWRITER’S REFERENCE SHELF
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations : A Collection of Passages,
Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient
and Modern Literature, ed. by John Bartlett.
The Little, Brown Book of Anecdotes, ed.
Clifton Fadiman (Little, Brown).
The Speaker’s Sourcebook: Quotes, Stories, and
Anecdotes for Every Occasion, ed. Glenn Van Ekeren.
The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women,
ed. Rosalie Maggio.
Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations, ed. James B.
Simpson and Daniel J. Boorstin.
Webster’s New World Dictionary of Quotable Definitions,
ed. Eugene E. Brussell.
A New Dictionary of Quotations, ed. H.L. Mencken.
Random House Webster’s Quotationary,
ed. Leonard Roy Frank.
The International Thesaurus of Quotations, ed.
Eugene Ehrlich and Marshall deBruhl.
Statistically Speaking, ed. C.C. Gaither and
A.E. Cavozov-Gaither.
Speaker’s Treasury of Sports Anecdotes, Stories,
and Humor, ed. Gerald Tomlinson.
The Military Quotation Book, ed. James Charlton (no index).
SPECIAL-OCCASION RESOURCES
Toasts by Paul Dickson; Irish Toasts, Curses, and Blessings, ed.
Padraic O’Farrell; and online booksellers list
several titles for “roasts and toasts.”
The Book of Ages, ed. Desmond Morris and
The Oxford Book of Ages, ed. Anthony and Sally Sampson
(clever quotes for special birthdays).
The Book of Christmas Wisdom, ed. Criswell Freeman.
Witty Words, ed. Eileen Mason and Timelines by Paul Dickson
(for what happened in history).
Dying: A Book of Comfort, ed. Pat McNees.
Can You Say a Few Words? By Joan Detz
(how to make award presentations, dedications, eulogies, etc.)
BUSINESS AND CORPORATE LIFE:
The Book of Business Anecdotes, ed. Peter Hay.
Funny Business (business humor for speakers),
ed. Gene Perret and Linda Perret (Prentice-Hall).
The Manager’s Book of Quotations, ed. Lewis
Eigen and Jonathan Siegel.
Quotable Business, ed. Louis E. Boone.
POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
The Bully Pulpit, presidential quotations, ed.
Elizabeth Frost (Facts on File).
Congressional Anecdotes, by Paul Boller, Jr. (Oxford).
Speaker’s Treasury of Political Stories,
Anecdotes, & Humor, ed. Gerald Tomlinson.
Power Quotes, ed. Daniel B. Baker.
The Wit & Wisdom of Politics, ed. Charles Henning.
RELIGIOUS AND INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS:
Treasury of Religious Quotations, ed. Gerald Tomlinson.
Speakers Sourcebook ed. Eleanor Doan.
Timeless Quotations on Faith and Belief, ed. John Cook.
2,000 Religious Quotations, ed. Frank S. Mead.
You Can Say That Again ed. R.E.O. White.
Book of Positive Quotations, ed. John Cook.
HUMOR AND IRREVERENCE
The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous
Quotations ed. Fred Metcalf.
The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations,
ed Ned Sherrin.
Cassell Dictionary of Humorous Quotations,
ed. Nigel Rees.
The Complete Book of Zingers, ed. Croft M. Pentz.
Dictionary of Outrageous Quotations, ed. C.R.S. Marsden.
PROVERBS, APHORISMS, AND REGIONAL QUOTATIONS
The Viking Book of Aphorisms, ed. W.H. Auden
and Louis Kronenberger.
The Oxford Book of Aphorisms, ed. John Gross.
The Penguin Dictionary of Proverbs, ed. Rosalind Fergusson.
GREAT SPEECHES (COLLECTIONS):
Great Speeches of the Twentieth Century, collected
by George Skene (four audio CDs or audiocassettes).
Greatest Speeches of All Time (and similar collections, audio CD).
Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, ed.
by William Safire.
The World's Great Speeches, ed. Lewis Copeland,
Lawrence Lamm, and Stephen McKenna.
Farewell, Godspeed: The Greatest Eulogies of Our
Time, ed. Cyrus M. Copeland
HOW TO GIVE A SPEECH:
How to Write and Give a Speech by Joan Detz. A how-to classic.
“I Can See You Naked”by Ron Hoff (Andrews &
McMeel). Sharp advice for making presentations.
Is There a Speech Inside You? by Don Aslett
(Writer’s Digest Books). Practical tips, lighthearted style.
The Power of Eloquence by Thomas Montalbo (Prentice-Hall).
What makes a speech like “I Have a Dream” eloquent.
The Smile Connection: How to Use Humor in
Dealing with People, by Esther
Blumenfeld and Lynne Alpern.
NBC Handbook of Pronunciation by
Eugene Ehrlich and Raymond Hand, Jr.
(See also Is There a Cow in Moscow? and
There Is No Zoo in Zoology by Charles H. Elster).
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
PAT McNEES (www.patmcnees.com) is a freelance
writer-editor based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Pat's specialty is presenting medical, scientific
and technical material in plain and compelling
English (with storytelling) for popular audiences.
JOAN DETZ (www.joandetz.com) offers basic, advanced,
and masters-level speechwriting workshops. She is the author
of HOW TO WRITE & GIVE A SPEECH and IT'S NOT
WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S HOW YOU SAY IT (St. Martin's Press).
Reprints/Excerpts: If you’d like to reprint or excerpt this article,
ask the author for permission and attribute it to
“Washington Speechwriters Roundtable (www.washingtonspeechwriters.com)”
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