There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.

The remark captures a common experience of public speaking: performance is split between rehearsal, delivery, and retrospective self-critique. Carnegie’s point is not merely humorous; it normalizes the gap between intention and execution and highlights how speakers often judge themselves by an imagined “ideal” version created after the fact. Read as advice, it encourages preparation while also warning against perfectionism—post‑speech regret is almost inevitable, so the practical goal is steady improvement rather than flawless delivery. It also underscores that effective speaking is iterative: each talk becomes feedback for the next, and the “speech you wish you gave” can be turned into future practice.