In my career I must have given over 1,000 speeches. Most of speeches I gave are long forgotten, although I hope they all accomplished the business objectives we set for them. Perhaps a few of my remarks, such as the three speeches of mine thought worthy of inclusion in this book, may serve as examples of a certain style of public speaking. A precious one or two, like the speech commemorating the centennial of the Statue of Liberty, will be with me the rest of my life. My days of making speeches are pretty much behind me, by the way. Now it's your turn.

50 High-Impact Business Speeches and Remarks will help you become an effective speaker by offering 50 speeches that have been used by business leaders in real life situations. You can use these speeches as models for your own remarks. Study the speeches. Find in them the structure, rhythm, cadences, and wording that speak to your subject. Then make the speech your own.

Whenever someone asks me how to start a business speech, I have a simple answer: Start with the pure and simple truth. Of course, the truth is rarely pure and never simple. But as a business leader, your job is to tell the truth. Now, more than ever, business leaders must be seen to be telling the truth. The avalanche of corporate scandals-the Enrons, Tycos, and Worldcoms-has seriously eroded public trust in business executives. Never in my more than 50 years of management experience have I seen such loss of confidence in the honesty and basic integrity of Fortune 500 business executives. Regaining that trust is possible but it will take a sustained commitment to integrity and truth.

Good news never tests an executive's commitment to the truth. It's when a leader must announce bad news-a downsizing, plant closing, or accounting irregularity-that his or her commitment to honesty and integrity is tested. And, unfortunately, business conditions today make the delivery of bad news a predictable chore for most executives.

The formula for delivering bad news is easy, even if the execution is usually painful. Here's the formula: Tell it first. Tell it straight. Tell it all.

Tell it first. A company is always better off being first to disclose a bad situation. Playing catch-up is risky. When you are the first to disclose the bad news, you set the context. You can not only talk about the problem but also how and why it happened, and what you are going to do about it.

Tell it straight. That means no spinning. If your company made a decision that's dumb-like Chrysler did when it repaired cars damaged in testing and sold them as new-don't mince words and call the action "inappropriate." If it's dumb, say so.

Tell it all. That means don't leave anything out. If it's relevant to the situation, disclose it. If you don't, someone else certainly will and your whole message will be undermined.
Now, on to the speeches and remarks. I wish you the best of luck on your speech.

Lee Iacocca

Los Angeles, CA

June 2003