We want to hear from you. You're viewing the newest version of the Library's website. Please send us your feedback!
Speeches: select titles
World's Great Speeches 1999 by Publication Date: 1999-09-21
Women at the Podium by Publication Date: 2000-08-08
Words That Ring Through Time by Publication Date: 2009-09-03
Words of Our Time by Publication Date: 2012-07-17
Monologues: select titles
Actor's Choice - Monologues for Men by Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Monologues for Women by Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Classical Monologues from Aeschylus to Bernard Shaw by Publication Date: 2002-11-01
Winning Auditions by Publication Date: 2005-08-01
Find speeches and monologues in the Library's collection
Use the Library's search to locate speeches and monologues.
To find speeches, try keywords such as speech(es), orations, and the name of the person giving the speech (e.g., Winston Churchill). You can also search by subject heading, using keywords speeches and addresses.
To find monologues in the Library, search by keywords such as monologue, soliloquy, and audition.
Databases and websites containing monologues
- Drama OnlineAvailable to students, faculty and staff at the University of Waterloo.
Depending on your method of access, you may be asked to authenticate as a member of the UWaterloo community.
- Monologue ArchiveOrganizes monologues by gender, age range, and playwright. This website provides the text of the monologue only; to see if we have the work in full, search the Library Catalogue.
- Actorama: MonologuesFrom website: Are you looking for monologues for your audition or acting class? Here you can search monologues from movies, plays, television and books according to gender, source material, type (dramatic, comic, serio-comic), main action/emotions explored, period, genre or specific keywords (e.g. title or author).
Databases and Internet Sources Containing Speeches
- ABI/INFORMArticles on business and management from U.S. and international journals and trade magazines, including company histories, competitive intelligence, and product development.
Coverage: 1971 - present - America History and LifeIdentifies articles, book reviews, and dissertations on American and Canadian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present.
Coverage: mid 1950s - present
When looking for speeches within databases, keep these tips in mind:
- Use the document type field to limit your results. This field is often below the search bar.
- Search "speeches" or "addresses" in the subject heading field.
- If you are looking for a speech by a particular person use the people or person field if it is available on the drop down.
- Gifts of SpeechSearch for women's speeches from around the world.
ABI/Inform - Search Example
ABI/INFORM contains a collection "Vital Speeches of the Day."
To find speeches limit your search by document type: Speech/Lecture. See the screenshot below.
- ABI/INFORMArticles on business and management from U.S. and international journals and trade magazines, including company histories, competitive intelligence, and product development.
Coverage: 1971 - present
Audio and Video Speeches
These resources are available through the University of Waterloo's Media Resources catalogue (links provided below) or through the Internet.
Title: Canadian Great Speeches, Volumes 1 & 2
Producer: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
Synopsis: This program captures key moments in our political history. Each speech is prefaced by informative contextual narratives. In Volume 1, Mackenzie King makes farewell address to the Liberal Party; Pierre Trudeau invokes the War Measures Act on national television; Tommy Douglas responds to Trudeau; Rene Levesque addresses the 1980 Quebec referendum defeat; Jean Chretien speaks prior to the 1995 Quebec referendum.
Title: The Speeches Collection
Synopsis: Before the advent of television, political careers were often built through the powers of oratory. And although television has provided a new tool for reaching the public, there is still nothing quite as stirring as a great speech. Included in this series are some of the best, delivered by the great names throughout world history. Included in this series are speeches by: Douglas McArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Winston S. Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Title: American Rhetoric: Online Speech Bank
Description: This website provides an index of speeches from everyone from Abbott & Costello to Woodrow Wilson. In most cases the speech is provided in video with a transcript. This resource has an American focus.
Title: Famous Speeches & Audio
Curated by: A&E Entertainment, History.com
Description: Contains the audio of a range of speeches, largely focused on American war contexts.