The Speeches series contains a chronological listing of all existant speeches delivered by Governor Bennett during his four years in office. Included are some of his Senate and campaign speeches prior to 1975.

The Governor often spoke without notes or a prepared draft. The speeches in the collection are, in many cases, transcripts later prepared from a tape recording by his staff. Sometimes the only example of a speech the Governor delivered is the copy of paraphrased words reproduced in the form of a press release to the media. Therefore, the researcher is asked to use both the Press Release series and the "Speech" folders in the General Files by indexing chronologically to the subject being researched.

This series is listed primarily by chronology, with the organization of groups to whom the speech is being delivered noted. Usually the place of delivery is recorded, and the researcher should be able to derive the subject of the speech by the group involved. A subject and chronological card index kept by the Governor's office is available to aid researchers. Some extra speeches to the legislature for 1977 are located in the Miscellaneous series (Box 225.31).