The Gettysburg address is the perfect speech. MLK’s dream speech is up there, but what President Lincoln managed to do in 10 sentences with just 272 words was nothing short of genius. When great speechwriters like Ted Sorensen say brevity is the most important element of any speech (keep it short), they’re usually thinking about The Gettysburg address. Why take 20 minutes or more if you can get the job done in 2?