[Blocks8]

This seems to miss the distinction between a good speaker and a good speech. Just as there are good writers and good posts. Speakers and writers require practice, discipline to improve their craft. Speeches and blog posts should have purpose, entertain and inform.

The best way to measure a successful speech is to see what the audience walks away with. Usually, the audience walks away with a few lessons, not verbatim recall of the words spoken or written. Steve Jobs and J.K. Rowling's commencement speeches are two of my favorites. Stories provide entertainment but the lessons they learned are what the audience walks away with: life is short, chase your dreams.