How to Cite a Speech

You have just sat through a really powerful speech, and the words pretty much fell into place with the paper you are working on. Now you need to figure out how to give credit where it is really due. Knowing how to cite a speech properly is the bottom line of academic integrity. You want to credit the original thinker and make it easy for readers to track down the source themselves. Once you get the basics down, it becomes second nature.

First, gather all the key details. You will need them regardless of which citation style you are using. Think of it as a pre-citation checklist.

• Speaker’s Name: The full name of the person who delivered the speech or lecture.
• Speech Title: The official title of the address. If the speech has no title, a brief descriptive title will work.
• Date Speech Was Delivered: The exact date the speech occurred.
• Location and Venue: The city and specific venue where the event was held.
• Source Type: Where did you find the speech? Was it a live lecture, an audio file on a website, a printed transcript in a book, or a video from a news archive?

Tip: Keeping this information organized from the start will save you a headache later. A quick note in your research log does the trick.

How to Cite a Speech in APA Style

APA (American Psychological Association) style is common in the social sciences. Its format prioritizes the publication date, which highlights the timeliness of research. When you cite a speech in APA, the exact format depends on how you accessed it. Whether you found an audio file online, a print version in a book, or attended a live lecture, the citation structure shifts to reflect the source type.

APA: Online Audio or Video of a Speech

For an audio file of a speech found on a website, include the speaker’s name, the full date, the speech title in italics, a bracketed description of the format, the name of the website, and the URL. Historical speeches are often archived on dedicated sites such as American Rhetoric.

Kennedy, J. F. (1961, January 20). Presidential inaugural address [Speech audio recording]. American Rhetoric. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkinaugural.htm

APA: Speech or Transcript in a Book

If you are referencing a printed transcript, such as a speech published in an edited book, cite it as you would a chapter from that book. The book title is a key element of the reference, and the speaker’s name fills the author role.

Washington, G. (1999). George Washington’s farewell address. In J. Brooks (Ed.), George Washington’s farewell address: Little books of wisdom. Applewood Books.

APA: Live Lecture or Class Presentation

When citing a live lecture you attended, treat it as a personal communication. Include the speaker’s name, the lecture title in italics (if the lecture has one), a bracketed label, the institution’s name, and the city.

Lee, S. (2024, March 5). Climate policy futures [Lecture]. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

An in-text reference in APA requires the speaker’s last name and the year. If you are quoting directly from an audio file, add a timestamp.

(Kennedy, 1961, 1:15) or (Washington, 1796/1999)

If creating references feels like a chore, an online citation generator can automate the process for you. For more detailed guidance, the APA’s own blog offers excellent examples of how to cite speeches.

How to Cite a Speech in MLA Style

MLA style is the standard for humanities papers, and its format is surprisingly flexible. When citing a speech in MLA, you give your reader a clear trail back to the original source. The works cited entry changes depending on whether you found the speech on a website, in a book, or attended the lecture in person.

MLA: Speech Found on a Website

Include the speaker’s name, the speech title in quotation marks, the website title in italics, the publisher name, the publication date, and the URL. If you are working with a transcript and the same speech is also available as an audio file, add the label “Transcript” at the end of the entry.

Washington, George. “George Washington’s Farewell Address.” The Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, 2008, avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp. Transcript.

MLA: Speech Published in a Book

When a speech appears in an edited book, your works cited entry focuses on the book title and publisher. Include the editor’s name, the book title in italics, the publisher, the year, and the page range for the specific speech.

Washington, George. “George Washington’s Farewell Address.” George Washington’s Farewell Address: Little Books of Wisdom, edited by John Brooks, Applewood Books, 1999, pp. 1-30.

MLA: Live Speech or Lecture You Attended

For a speech or lecture you attended in person, include the speaker’s name, the lecture title (or a description if the lecture has no title), the name of the sponsoring event or organization, the location, and the date speech was given. Label it as a lecture or address at the end.

Davis, Angela. “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle.” Ida B. Wells Memorial Lecture, University of Chicago, Chicago, 5 Oct. 2019. Lecture.

The MLA provides its own guidance on how to cite a copy of a speech, which is useful for edge cases like reprinted transcripts and multilingual editions.

How to Cite a Speech in Chicago Style

Chicago style offers two systems: notes-bibliography and author-date. For most speeches and lectures, the notes-bibliography format is the standard choice in history, literature, and the arts. It uses footnotes or endnotes in the body of the paper and a full bibliography at the end. Author-date Chicago style, used in some social sciences, follows a different in-text pattern but includes the same core information.

Chicago Notes-Bibliography: Online or Archived Speech

In the notes-bibliography system, a footnote includes the speaker’s name, the speech title in quotation marks, a parenthetical description of the medium and the date speech was delivered, and the URL or archive name.

1. Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address” (speech, Gettysburg, PA, November 19, 1863), available at https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org.

Chicago Notes-Bibliography: Lecture, Book Chapter, and Conference Presentation

The format shifts slightly depending on the source type. A live lecture includes the event description. A speech published as a book chapter follows the edited-book format, including the editor’s name and page numbers. Use the table below as a quick guide.

Source Type	Chicago Notes-Bibliography Example
Live Speech or Lecture	1. Angela Davis, “Freedom Is a Constant Struggle” (lecture, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, October 5, 2019).
Speech in a Book	2. Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream,” in A Testament of Hope, ed. James M. Washington (San Francisco: Harper, 1986), 217.
Academic Presentation	3. Sarah Jang, “Deconstructing Opposition in Coleridge” (paper presented at NASSR, Chicago, IL, August 8, 2019).

Chicago Author-Date: In-Text and Bibliography

If your paper uses Chicago author-date style, in-text references follow the (Author Year, page) format. The bibliography entry places the year immediately after the speaker’s name.

Bibliography: King, Martin Luther Jr. 1986. “I Have a Dream.” In A Testament of Hope, edited by James M. Washington, 217-220. San Francisco: Harper.

For tricky edge cases, such as citing an out-of-copyright speech or an unpublished lecture, the Chicago Manual of Style Q&A covers these scenarios, including how to handle out-of-copyright speeches.

In-Text References for Speeches

Knowing how to format the bibliography entry is only half the work. The in-text reference is where you connect your argument to the source. Each style has a slightly different rule, and each one points your reader to the full entry in your works cited list or bibliography.

• APA Style: (Speaker’s Last Name, Year). For example, (King, 1963). When quoting from an audio file, add a timestamp: (King, 1963, 2:44).
• MLA Style: (Speaker’s Last Name). For example, (Washington). When the speech comes from a book, include a page number: (Washington 12).
• Chicago Notes-Bibliography: A superscript number leads to a full footnote or endnote on first use, with a short form on subsequent references.
• Chicago Author-Date: (Speaker’s Last Name Year, page). For example, (King 1986, 217).

For any specific questions about formatting, from a basic transcript to a complex archived lecture, consulting official style guides is always a good idea. You can also find answers to many citation questions and make sure your work is impeccable.