As any speaker will tell you, when you address a large number of people from a stage, you try to make eye contact with people in the audience to communicate that you're accessible and interested in them.

If a university official's letter accusing a speaker of having a proclivity to commit speech crimes before she's given the speech - which then leads to Facebook postings demanding that Ann Coulter be hurt, a massive riot and a police-ordered cancellation of the speech - is not hate speech, then there is no such thing as hate speech.

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that 'individuality' is the key to success.

If you'd said to me when I was 21, 'You're going to get into parliament, be a senior minister of state, shadow health secretary, shadow home secretary, a privy councillor, be endorsed by the Times as a candidate for Speaker, have four novels published, and then have great fun after you retire,' I'd have said, 'That sounds like a good life.'

I was a motivational speaker and I've been in front of crowds a lot and I'm very comfortable with that.

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don't want to meet them.

I never aspired to be Speaker simply so I could say, 'I am the Speaker of the House of Commons,' and tell my children that.

Being the first woman speaker and breaking the marble ceiling is pretty important. Now it's time to move on.

When I had my first son, in 2017, we decided to give him a Burmese middle name. I picked Mindon, after the penultimate king of Burma. It sounded strong and regal, and it wasnt too difficult for a Western speaker.

I never got formal training in music. I would just sit with my ear to the speaker and my hand on the needle. I'd listen to Wanda Jackson and think, 'How did she do that?,' and lift the needle and try it myself.

Well, they put me in a booth and then did some nice things to the speaker to make it come out sounding ok.

A native speaker of English who has never read a word of the King James Bible is verging on the barbarian.

Mr Speaker, I smell a rat; I see him forming in the air and darkening the sky; but I will nip him in the bud.

I didn't need to be speaker because I needed a fancy title or a big office. I wanted to be speaker so I could lead an effort to deal with the serious issues that are facing our country.

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words, but for a lifetime John McCain has inspired with his deeds.

At 25, I was in the audience of my first professional speaker, Bob Bales. His presentation got my attention. I had never seen anyone having so much fun 'at work' and getting paid for it!

I told myself that I wanted to be a motivational speaker, I wanted to write a book, graduate college, have my own family, and have my own career.

I realized I love motivating and I love empowering and I love inspiring people. I did that as an athlete for 18 years, and I am able to do that as a motivational speaker now as well as doing work on television.

Ever since I was a kid, I knew I could play in the NFL because I had a knack for the game. But I can't play this game forever. When I'm finished, maybe I'll become a motivational speaker, maybe a preacher. But children need to know that life may be hard, but you can always overcome.

I taught myself how to be a speaker on Google. I just Googled 'how to be a motivational speaker.'