View source for Atheism and public speaking

== Soviet Union and oratory ==

[[Atheism]] was a part of [[communism|communist]] ideology (see: [[Atheism and communism]]). 

According to the [[University of Cambridge]], historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]] to power."<ref name="Marxism-Leninism">{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728215151/http://www.investigatingatheism.info/marxism.html|title=Investigating atheism: Marxism|publisher = [[University of Cambridge]]|quote=The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.|year=2008|accessdate=July 17, 2014}}</ref> 
[[Image:Stalin-140508 27880t.jpg|left|180px|thumb|[[Joseph Stalin]]]] 
Professor Robert Service says about  the public speaking skills of [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Leon Trotsky]] and [[Vladimir Lenin]]:
{{Cquote|[Stalin]...didn’t have all of the skills - he was a pathetic orator. Well, I say a pathetic orator, he was good at doing the simple things. He was a sort of barking speaker. Not in the sense of being mad, but he barked like a dog. Now, he didn’t have any of the flights of fancy of Trotsky or the eloquence of Lenin, so even as a speaker he wasn’t at all bad...<ref>[http://ww2history.com/experts/Robert_Service/Stalin_s_personality Stalin’s personality]</ref>}}

Ilya Zemtsov wrote in the book ''Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika'' about [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and [[Leonid Brezhnev]]: "Neither Khrushchev nor Brezhnev was known for his particularly refined behavior and obviously neither excelled in oratory."<ref>''Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik : The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika'' by Ilya Zemtsov, page 167</ref>

John Dornberg wrote in his book ''Brezhnev: The Masks of Power'':
{{Cquote|In the limelight - on stage or on television - he is an image-builder’s nightmare. Although his voice is deep and resonant, his delivery is deadly. Ponderous and heavy, encumbered by a Ukrainian inflection that leaves some people wondering whether he is drunk, others thinking he has a speech impediment, Brezhnev is an oratorical failure.<ref>''Brezhnev: The Masks of Power'' by John Dornberg, page 16</ref>}}