“The three most important elements in any speech are: brevity, levity, and repetition. Let me say that again: brevity, levity, and repetition.”
Daniel Pink, author, Free Agent Nation, at a 2005 commencement address
If he’d sat down right after that, it would (theoretically) have been a perfect speech.
“Oh, I have now a mania for shortness. Whatever I read – my own or other people’s works – it all seems to me not short enough.” (Anton Chekhov)