There’s very few people who do any amount of public speaking these days that are pleasant to listen to or have anything to say. One of the few exceptions is Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator seems to have singlehandedly revived the traidition of being a great orator, something that just plain died in the public space some time in the last 30 or 40 years.

The two most recent reminders of his skill that I’ve seen are his commencement address at Knox College and his essay about Abraham Lincoln for Time. There’s more speeches of his to seek out, but what gives me more hope is that we’ll be hearing more of him in the future. I’m hoping it inspires at least a few other people in public life to try to be better speakers as well.