We Need a Speech…

February 18th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: Essential Speechwriter

February 18th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: Essential Speechwriter

Some idle thoughts about the freelancing trade we ply.

Those of you who write government speeches are familiar with the term “Check Against Delivery” that goes on the title page of speeches. In the pre-Internet days it was a signal to the media that there might be a difference between the written speech handed out at an event, and the one that was actually delivered. It also allowed the speaker some leeway to deviate from the distributed text as the mood or circumstance might dictate. And there was no electronic version of the speech. Just hard copies handed out to reporters who usually dumped them in the waste basket on their way out the door.

Fast forward to the common practice of government departments, and private sector corporations to post their speeches on their web sites. Question. Which speech is put up on the site? The speech that was signed off on – the one that cleared all the approvals – the safe speech? Or the one that was really given – where the speaker wandered off to unrelated tangents, told inappropriate jokes, or otherwise went off-message?

Sometimes the matter can be of little consequence. But at the very least it can present administrative headaches for the communication team.

On the other hand, it may be that even the speakers themselves don’t want the “as given” speeches up on their web sites. They might have stuck their political feet in their mouths in one fashion or another and in the harsh light of the following day, they might well want the text as-written to go on-line and pray that no one calls them on the difference. Read more…

February 5th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: Dealing with Clients, Essential Speechwriter, The Business of...

Pretend for a moment that you were starting over. That you were setting up your writing or consulting business for the very first time. What would you do differently? It’s a brand new world out there. Or is it?If you are slightly fossilized like me, then perhaps when you first hung out your shingle, fax machines were so “de rigueur” that you actually charged your clients for each page you faxed to them. Not for the content, but for the cost of toner! You think I’m joking right? Not so. In the mid-80s I worked for a PR firm that did exactly that. Apparently this was quite common “back in the day” – when email and the Internet were virtually non-existent. And a corporate web site was unheard of, well, because it was unheard of. Read more…

February 5th, 2008
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You would think that CEOs would get it by now. That we live in an MTV-CNN’d world, where people get their news in short sound bites or from Larry King. Where rumour is taken for truth, and perception for reality. Think Nixon. Think Clinton. The two Garys – Hart and Condit. This article appeared in the March 2002 issue of the “Speechwriter’s Newsletter. [www.ragan.com] But the lesson from today’s scandals apply equally well. Read more…

February 5th, 2008
Comments:2 Comments Category: Essential Speechwriter

The following is an extract of a speech I worked on with a senior official in a government agency. She was addressing a Board of Trade, explaining the ins and outs of new government legislation.Even though she was a first rate speaker, describing the ins and outs of legislation in an engaging manner can be a challenge. The extract that follows is self-explanatory and shows how the gift of story and anecdote can make even the driest of topics more engaging. It goes thusly:

“I want to close with a story. You may think it is a little personal. But it illustrates an important point about the exchange of information.

Some years ago I was bathing my son. He must have been about four or five at the time and he asked me one of those innocent questions that children ask. The ones that always give parents cause to stop and perhaps think too much about the answer.

He said “Mom, I have a penis.” Read more…

February 5th, 2008
Comments:No Comment Category: Essential Speechwriter