OnSpeechwriting

Do it for You: Enter the Cicero Awards

Let's face it, speechwriters are a faceless group. We sit in offices, writing material for other people to stand up and deliver. The best speechwriters stay hidden, satisfied in the role they play in helping a speaker develop and deliver a useful and engaging talk or speech. Unknown. Unseen. A ghost.

So how does a ghost speechwriter get recognized? How do you prove to others that what you do is measurably good, maybe even great? By entering the best and most prestigious contest for speechWRITERS, the Cicero Awards. It can get you recognized, give you a rare but beneficial addition to your resume and earn you the unending admiration of your fellow ghosts.

This is the time to do something not for your speaker, but for you. Enter now. Before it's too late.

Find the link here that will answer all your questions.

Speechwriters Conference Nearly Here

Oh what a slouch I am. I really need to post more but for some reasons, speeches and their clients tend to come first.

But that hasn't stopped me from gearing up for the 2014 Ragan Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference in Washington, DC. Feb. 19-21. Haven't signed up? There's still time, trust me. Ragan will take your credit card.

And you should sign up because there's another great lineup this year headlined by some guy named Jon Favreau. Oh yeah! He's President Obama's former director of speechwriting. Should be a fantastic keynote. But wait, there's more:

• Caryn Alagno - well-known and respected speechwriter and communicator will be talking about how to chart your career;

• Dean Foust - the new guy at UPS will be on hand to talk about leveraging your speech via social media;
• Nate Osburn - perennial Cicero Award winner will share 10 lessons learned in 10 years. Don't miss this one!

Who else? The esteemed playwright, teacher, speechwriter and fun guy Mike Long will be there talking about time management. (Mike, remember to wear pants.) Douglass Hatcher will give career advice. (For us? Really? Isn't our job always secure and stable?) Aaron Hoover, also a Cicero Winner, will give his "New tricks for writing the old ceremonial speech." The always-favorite Rob Friedman from Eli Lilly is presenting a workshop that - finally - isn't opposite of my own.

And, yes, I will be there, too. In fact, I'm giving a pre-conference workshop on how to solve the 10 toughest problems for speechwriters on Wednesday. On Thursday, I'm joining Lori Zetlin from S3 to talk about how to develop a true thought leadership plan. Later that same day I'm joining a bevy of speech gurus and all-around great people to talk about what makes an award-winning speech.

There's enough here to keep everyone happy: the experienced, the newbie and even the slightly curious.

Feeling sad because you can't make the conference but you still want to hear what went on? Never fear. The always out front Ian Griffen has just the thing for you. He's hosting a conference call Thursday, Feb. 20th at 7:15 that will pull in some of the day's speakers - yes, I'll be on the call - to share their insights. It is obstensibly for his Silicon Valley Speechwriters group but, he says, really anyone can call in. The only catch? You must pre-register. You can do that here.

Finally, if you're there, please say hello. Stop me, accost me, hunt me down and say hello. We gotta' stick together folks!

Oh, and follow the festivities at #raganspeech.

 

LBJ, Speechwriting and the Quest for Brevity

In my last post I lamented about writing coaches who encourage all writers to pare their work. Not all writing is created for the same purpose, I argued, and speeches need to be more expansive because audiences need time to hear – and interpret – the words spoken.

Now for a different view.

Robert Hardesty was a speechwriter for President Lyndon B. Johnson, whom I consider to be one of most under-appreciated Presidents in history. Hardesty, who passed away earlier this year, recalls in this article that Johnson had his own style and sensibilities when it came to speeches.

“We soon learned that LBJ had strong opinions about how a speech should be written. And brevity was a cardinal rule. For some reason, 'four' seemed to be a magic number.

“‘Four-letter words,’ he would say, ‘four-word sentences, and four-sentence paragraphs. Keep it simple. You’ve got to write it so that the charwoman who cleans the building across the street can understand it.’”

But it went further. Unless the President was delivering a major address, he wanted everything in 400 words or less.

As you might imagine, this was a difficult task. “You don’t just write a speech like that,” Hardesty says. “You chisel it. You carve it. And when you finish, you start cutting—and your most beautiful prose usually goes first.”

No speechwriter would voluntarily restrict themselves to a 400-word limit. “It wasn’t natural,” Hardesty says. “It went against a writer’s training … to be limited to four-letter words, four-word sentences, four-sentence paragraphs, and 400 words – that’s cruel.”

In the end, Hardesty said he and his fellow speechwriter, Will Sparks, came to appreciate the President’s mandate. Capping the comments at 400 words “forced you to organize your thoughts and disciplined you to write sparingly and clearly. If you did it right, you ended up with a little gem.”

But it also took its toll. He relates that one Friday, after a particularly difficult period, he finally had a long and free weekend ahead of him. No writing assignments. When a colleague asked how he was going to spend his time, Hardesty replied, “I’m going to go home and do nothing for 48 hours but think in long, convoluted sentences.”

 

 

You can't cut your way to great speechwriting

Oh those ubiquitous writing coaches and workshop leaders. They do mean well, don’t they?

They send out invitations to writing classes and seminars which invariably suggest that one of the keys to better writing is to trim, trim, trim.

Now, in fairness, if you look at the some of these closely it’s hard to argue with anything there. They provide great tips like “avoid passive voice,” “refer to people as ‘who’ not ‘what’,” and avoid words like “currently.” Good stuff. Solid advice.

But they almost always include instructions to prune unnecessary words. Cut out the repetition. Spare the poor consumer your excess prose.

In short, would-be writers hear a frequent and unfortunate message that writing – all writing – can be improved by the knife. That is advice you’ll never hear from me about speechwriting.

To the contrary, good speeches are expansive. Good speeches need air to breath. Good speeches repeat important points and rhetorical phrasing. Good speeches verbally and mentally separate important points and give the audience enough time to marinate slowly in ideas. Good speeches have rhythm and dance on the ear as a melodic song. Good speeches care more about the emotional connections that can only occur through careful – but often capacious – verbal expressions than they care about brevity for the sake of brevity.

Yes, all of our work – whether it is writing designed for the ear or the eye – can use a good dose of editing. There’s no good reason to use a $10 word, for example, when a 50-cent word will probably work better.

But writing for the ear is different than writing for the eye. Audiences can’t “re-hear” what a speaker says unless the speaker repeats it. Have a jackhammer loudly pounding the ground right outside your speech venue? You better repeat your most important points because there’s a good chance your audience will be distracted.

Indeed, good speech writing does (at least) two things concurrently. It reduces noise in the speech by being as clear, plain and understandable as possible. But it also mitigates noises and distractions that plague the audience’s ears and minds from outside.

It does that not by being necessarily succinct and pithy but by giving the listener the best opportunity to hear – and understand – the words just spoken. That enormous task takes time. It often takes repetition. And it most definitely requires a more comfortable and voluminous approach to language that is unique to the genre.

So remember when you see those emails encouraging you to cut your writing that not all writing is created for the same audiences. Speeches are a different type of writing and require a different sensibility.

Stop and say "hello"

Ragan's 5th Annual Employee Communications, PR and Social Media Summit is this week. If you're there and see me, please stop and say "hello." I'm presenting in two sessions this year: a workshop on "The 6 Thorniest Problems for Speechwriters" and "Speechwriters Take Note: It's Not Just About the Writing."

Ragan has pulled in a great lineup of speakers this year to present at the Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond. Speakers from Walmart, NASCAR, Coca-Cola, The Mayo Clinic, Raytheon, Whole Foods Markets and more will be on hand to share their knowledge and wisdom.

As with most conferences, however, a lot of the real learnings take place outside the formal session settings. It's in one-on-one discussions and hallway talks where you get to know people and get some individual advice on vexing problems and concerns.

So, if you see me, stop, say hello. And we'll learn together!

The Time is Now

It’s that time again. Time to think about sparking your speechwriting career. Time to think about how to take your speechwriting to a new level. Time to think about re-energizing your creative batteries, hearing solutions to age-old questions, and rubbing shoulders with some of the best folks in speechwriting today.

Yes. It’s time to make sure your 2013 budget includes a trip to the Ragan Speechwriting and Executive Communicators Conference.

Full disclosure: Yes, I’m speaking. In fact, if you register early, you can reserve a spot in my pre-conference workshop: The 10 Thorniest Problems for Speechwriters (and How to Solve Them).

But I’m just one of many speakers this year. It’s an all-star cast: Jeff Shesol (former Clinton speechwriter), the incredible Mike Long, Jill Giacomoni from Microsoft, Pete Weissman, Rosemary King, Colin Morehouse, Randy Lee, Rob Friedman and so many more. You have presenters from all aspects of writing. The international folks will be there, as well, with three presenters from Denmark. Did I mention David Murray of Vital Speeches will be speaking? And Steve Crescenzo?

So sign up. Now. Early. Reserve your spot. More to come later.

Required Reading for Speechwriters

Attention all speechwriters (and the leaders they serve): There is required reading for you this weekend.

Two great pieces on communications appeared over the weekend and if you missed them you missed a fantastic opportunity to learn about the importance of real, purposeful communication. The first talks about how to determine a key message in a speech. The second talks about how - and why - to connect that speech to a larger narrative.

When I speak about and teach speechwriting, I often encourage writers to begin with a simple 1-2-3 process:

1. Analyze the audience and determine what it’s needs are;
2. Determine your purpose for speaking;
3. Choose your key message - your narrative - carefully and accordingly.

These have to be taken in this order, by the way. One builds on the other. If you pick your key messages before you know what the audience needs – a mistake more common than you might believe – you waste a tremendous opportunity and risk alienating the audience. In fact, you will probably do more harm than good to you and your organization.

A common gaffe among many speakers is going to the podium with either A) too many key messages or B) no key messages or narrative at all. The result is a confusing jumble of words and speeches that may inform but do little else. They don’t creat understanding. They don’t reinforce values. They don’t change opinion. And they certainly don’t elicit action.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Two illuminating pieces over the weekend reinforce this idea very eloquently.

The first is from the master speechwriter Bob Lehrman, the chief speechwriter for Al Gore and now a professor at American University. His opinion piece at The New York Times is a must-read for any one who even ocassionally writes speeches.

In this highly entertaining essay, Bob talks about how he got into speechwriting, the importance of story, why establishing and protecting ethos is critical and awesome power of simplicity. And he speaks with the experience of someone who’s fought the battles: “It also can be difficult,” he writes, “to make someone sound like Moses addressing the Israelites when you announce a three-point plan for reducing the deficit.”

I would encourage you to pay most attention, however, to his words on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. He says it’s the most popular structure for political speeches and I have no doubt he’s correct. But it could be – and perhaps should be – the go-to structure for those in the corporate and not-for-profit sector as well. Why? Because it forces the speaker to go through the 1-2-3 process I outlined above and places the speech message where it should be: on the audience and its needs.

I call it choosing your own headline. If you fail to choose your own headline – by writing speeches with either no clear, audience-centric message or too many messages – you leave that critical task to the audience. That's a failure of purpose communication and a failure of true leadership.

The second piece is from The New York Times Magazine, a great piece of writing from Matt Bai. Again, the subject is how – and why – establishing your own narrative with the audience is crucial. Case in point: President Obama’s failure to do just that for four years.

Too often, leaders get caught up in the day-to-day. A speech here on health care. A speech there on trade. Another one on the importance of energy or national defense. As Bai points out, there is nothing wrong with that, expect when it’s unconnected to an overall narrative or storyline. In other words, it's fine to have great speeches but do the speeches - collectively - help tell a larger story that resonates with your audience?

David Gergen is quoted as comparing a leader’s need for a clear narrative to a clothesline: “You adopt your clothesline and then you hang your policies from it. They’re missing the clothesline.”

And when you fail to establish that narrative, you create a vacuum. And nature abhors a vacuum ... but only for an instance. Why? Because the moment you fail to fill that void with your own story, someone else will fill it for you. And why would anyone surrender their own narrative to someone else?

Two great articles. Two great lessons. Enjoy.

Learning to Write a Vital Speech - In 60 Minutes

The essential truth that speechwriters share is, “A speech is not an essay standing on its hind legs.” 

A great speech is so much more—and in an exclusive one-hour audio conference sponsored by Vital Speeches of the Day, I will show you the art and science involved in crafting a persuasive speech that connects the speaker with the audience.

You’ll learn:

• How to make speeches that connect with audiences—emotionally, intellectually, even spiritually—and why those connections aren’t just ideal, but actually crucial to a successful speech.
• The one best structure for virtually any talk. (No, it’s really not any more complicated than that.)
• How to use evocative language. The right way to use statistics. How - and when - to tell stories.
• Why less is always better than more.
• And why planning a speech is just as important as actually writing the speech.

By the time this conference is over, you’ll be able to take your speechwriting to an entirely new level.

And you won’t even need to take notes, because with your registration you’ll receive a FREE copy of my definitive speechwriting guide, 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech. That’s a 39.95 value—and a priceless professional asset.

The 135 Rule

Heres a question that comes up nearly every week from someone: How much do I need to write for a speech of XX minutes?

Seems like an innocent question. Unfortunately, reality and experience suggest otherwise.

My general rule of thumb on the length of speeches is to write – as a first draft – 135 words per delivered minute. Notice I said “as a first draft” and “general rule of thumb.” Exceptions abound.

In general the 135 Rule will get you in the ballpark. For a 20-minute speech, shoot for 2,700 words. For a 15-minute speech, 2,025 or somewhere around 2,000.

Problems arise on two big fronts. First, not every speaker is the same. I used to write for an executive from Mississippi. A great man, leader and gentleman who used to routinely deliver at 89.5 words per minute. Some of that was his deliberate, southern speech. But he also liked to ad-lib. I learned to build those factors in and adjust my copy. If I didn’t, he would exceed his time limit, and that has the potential to antagonize an audience.

When a speaker goes beyond their allotted time on a conference agenda, it not only frustrates the audience it makes it harder for them to hear the speaker’s message, especially the close. They’ve already built in a “the speaker will stop here” mindset and when the speaker goes past that – when they’ve violated that audience expectation – the audience tends to tune them out. (Going over your time slot is also a great way to make conference organizers upset, in case you were ever hoping to be invited back!)

Another CEO – also a great leader – was once clocked at 250 words per minute. Suddenly the amount of copy I had written for one leader was severly inadequate for the other. The good writer listens to the speeches, both past and present, and adjusts accordingly.

Likewise, speakers who are speaking a non-native language typically do – and should – speak a little slower than usual. Not only do the sentences tend to be shorter with more breaks between them, but the audience needs time to catch up as they adjust to any accent.

The 135 Rule lasts as long as the first practice. It’s great for a first draft but might need to be adjusted once the speaker delivers the speech out loud. Delivering the speech verbally – as opposed to simply silently reading it on paper or computer screen – is critical because we all read at a different pace than we deliver. Every now and then I’ll have a speaker say something like “I thought this speech was supposed to be 20 minutes but it took me only 15 to read through it.” It turns out they’ve read it on screen instead of delivering it.

So if you can be in the room – with a stopwatch – when the speaker practices, do it. Or at least ask them to time themselves. Have them go from beginning to end at least once. You’ll not only learn more about the speaker’s style and cadances, you’ll get great insight into how quickly they deliver. And the next draft won’t rely on the 135 Rule.

And if you have to make a choice of either writing too little copy or too much, remember this: Not one audience member ever got angry because a speaker gave them a little time back. It’s a small gift to be sure. But one they’ll appreciate and convey – with warm feelings – onto the speaker.

Here’s something new for 2012 on www.TheSpeechwriter.com: the five-question interview. Throughout the year, I’ll run a series of short interviews with leaders in the fields of speechwriting and executive thought leadership. Some you may have heard of; others perhaps not. But all of them will be people I’ve been fortunate enough to run across and who I believe can add to our understanding of speechwriting and executive communications. So welcome to the inaugural interview with executive visibility maven Terry Catchpole.

The image of a speechwriter whose only job is to write speeches is a bit old-fashioned. Yes, some still make a living doing that as a sole endeavor. But the role has changed over the years. It has expanded and grown as organizations have begun to understand that sometimes it’s not just what you say, but also where you say it and how that fits into a larger communications plan. And with that recognition has come new opportunities for speechwriters to widen their ability to help their organizations and their speakers. There are as many corporate types, for examples, with titles like “executive communications” and “thought leadership” on their business cards. And we’re working on not only individual speeches but thought leadership programs that maximize leaders’ time and energy in very deliberate and focused ways.

With that in mind, I’ve asked one of the leading experts in executive visibility to provide his thoughts on what it takes to more fully develop this other role. Terry Catchpole is Executive Chairman of The Catchpole Group in Boston. For 25 years, Catchpole has been working with companies (full disclosure: he works with Dow) to help them elevate their speakers’ profiles and to more fully develop their thought leadership programs. Although their specialty is sustainability, they are experts in helping organizations that are eager to expand the presence of their leaders.

1Q: Based on your experience, as well as on feedback from clients, how important is it for companies to have an executive visibility speaking program in place for its c-level executives?

1A: The short answer is that it depends on the executives, as some are just not comfortable in a public speaking role and do not feel that it is important for them in delivering value to stakeholders. For most companies and most executives, however, it  is a very important part of their overall corporate communications plan to have a well-considered strategy for having senior executives articulate a series of messages that map to their overall business objectives and for effectively delivering these messages to key target constituencies – customers, partners, investors, and, in some instances, the general public.

2Q: Many organizations have not even considered having an executive visibility speaking program. How would you recommend that they launch such a program?

2A: The best place to start is by identifying the messages that the company wants to communicate to its target constituencies. These “messages” cannot be warmed-over boilerplate about how terrific the companies’ products or services may be. They should be new, compelling, and relevant insights into their market – genuine “thought leadership,” in other words, not lagging-edge cliches trying to pass as such. Next they need to identify the best executive speakers to address facets of the messages set – the CFO or CMO will have a different perspective to share from the CEO, for example. Finally, identify their target stakeholder audiences and the forums where they can be found in attendance – deep due diligence in the conference world.

3Q: What is the most common mistake that companies make in launching an executive visibility speaking program?

3A: There are several. One, alluded to above, is thinking that your marketing copy passes for a thought leadership message, and failing to bring original insight with which you want to establish your executives’ stature as business leaders. Another is failure to cast a wide net in amassing a universe of conferences and other platforms from which your executives might speak and then to perform careful analysis as to the pros and cons of each – you can never have too many forum options or spend too much time researching and analyzing them.  Finally, perhaps the biggest mistake, is failure to respect the role of a conference organizer in understanding his or her attendees and what it is they want to hear from conference speakers – it might not be what you think they should hear or want to tell them. It is very important to be respectful of conference managers’ understanding of their attendees and be flexible in tailoring your messages to be synchronous with their agenda program plans.

4Q: Are there any big trends that you are seeing in trying to place client speakers at conferences and other speaking venues?

4A: Probably the most important development with executive leadership forums is the trend away from the traditional standalone, PowerPoint-driven keynote. What we are seeing instead are highly informal, unscripted sessions featuring three or four c-level speakers interacting with each other, the moderator, and audience members. Or a one-on-one “fireside chat” session with a CEO interacting with a moderator-interviewer, who could be a prominent business journalist or industry analyst.  The solo keynote is a dinosaur that, while never perhaps to be extinct, is seen less and less.

5Q: If you could provide just one piece of adv ice to an organization that is considering launching an executive visibility speaking program, what would it be?

5A: It may be fudging the question a bit, but I would say the one tip would be, “Respect the process” – but under that I would have sub-categories, including:  respect the fact that your “thought leadership” messages should be comprised of “thoughts” that are genuinely “leading” the dialog in your market, and are not lame and stale; respect the fact that conference managers do a lot of research on what their attendees want to hear, and be willing to work with them in providing content that adds value to their attendees’ experience; and respect the fact that your CEO will not always be invited to give a solo keynote presentation and should be prepared to consider participating in informal, interactive sessions with multiple participants  - all of whom should be of comparable stature in terms of title and company, of course.

When More is Less: The Presenter's Paradox

Sometimes, more really is less.

A study released last month revealed that gift givers tended to believe that giving more would always be perceived by the receiver in a more positive light than receiving less. Giving a cashmere sweater plus a $10 gift card, for example, would always be viewed by the recipient as being better than receiving the sweater by itself. Not so fast, researchers say.

“The gift recipient is likely to perceive the cashmere sweater alone as more generous than the combination of the same sweater and the gift card,” they say. This happens because recipients tend to follow “an averaging strategy.” Adding a small gift to a big one, in other words, tend to cheapen the whole bundle.

Interestingly enough, the same behavior applies to speeches and presentations. People who present a lot of proof points to back up their key messages often assume that adding every bit of evidence to the presentation will bolster their case. Research suggests otherwise.

“The addition of mildly favorable information dilutes the impact of highly favorable information in the eyes of evaluators,” says Stephen Garcia, an associate professor at the University of Michigan. “Hence, presenters of information would be better off if they limited their presentation to their most favorable information – just as gift givers would be better off to limit their present to their most favorite gift.”

The bottom line for speechwriters? Use your biggest ammunition and use it wisely and ignore the call to include vats of proof points.

Call it amplification through simplification.

5 Steps to a Successful Speech - Part 2

Here's the second part of an article that was originally featured in Communications Director magazine.

The third big tip is to give your speech a recognizable structure. This is incredibly important from the audience’s perspective. Here’s why.

Imagine someone you’ve never met asks you to take a trip with them. They won’t tell you where you’re going, how long you’ll be gone, what you’ll see along the way or even when you’ll be back. Would you go? 

You probably wouldn’t. And yet every day hundreds of speakers stand in front of audiences all around the world and do essentially the same thing. They begin talking without giving the audience any clues about where they are headed or when they’ll be finished.

Yet, listeners need those structural clues much like travelers need road signs. Knowing where they are, where they’re headed and what to expect along the way will increase their attention span and engagement. They will become active listeners instead of passive passengers in this speech journey.

There are lots of structures you can use. Here are a few favorites:

• Chronological – This is a simple structure often used to explain what has happened and why. Dates become signposts and listeners understand the progression.
• Geographic – You can use geography to break down the sections of your talk. Explaining what’s happening in the North, South, East and West, for example, gives the audience a comfortable sense of control and anticipation.
• Numbered Lists – This is one of the most useful and, frankly, my favorite. After identifying a common problem, the speaker can easily tell the audience something like: I’d like to discuss three ways we can address this problem. This allows the audience to follow along, understand the journey and anticipate an ending.

The secret to using any structure is in letting the audience know what the structure is. If you tell them you’ll make three important points, for example, you’ll see people pull out notebooks and write down the number “1.”  They’re now actively engaged and paying attention.

The fourth tip is for all of those corporate types out there who belong to the PowerPoint brigade. The tip is this: Work on the words first and PowerPoint slides second (if at all.)

Too many speakers today rely on PowerPoint slides for their presentations. As a result, they forfeit a good deal of leadership potential.

Here’s the most important thing to remember about PowerPoint. It is NOT your presentation. The speaker – along with the words they deliver – is the presentation. Least important is the slide deck.

PowerPoint can actually undermine a speaker’s potential to lead. After all, the point of any speech is to put your speaker/leader in front of an audience in an effort to persuade listeners to take some action. That requires a certain amount of logic, a certain amount of emotion and a certain amount of character – the three essential components of persuasive communications.

When speakers rely too heavily on slides, they lose two of those components: emotion and character. PowerPoint is the “coldest” and passionless speech tool available. It encourages passive learning and, importantly, takes the audience’s eyes away from the speaker where the essence of character lives.

PowerPoint also asks the audience to do too much. When we use PowerPoint, we expect an audience to HEAR the speaker’s words, WATCH the speaker at the podium, and READ the words on the slides. They simply can’t do all of that at one time.

My mantra is fewer slides not more. And while you’re at it, try to use fewer images and fewer words on each slide, too.

If your speaker insists on using PowerPoint, ease them off their addiction by first explaining that the audience wants to hear them, not read slides. Then encourage them to at least open their speech with five minutes of pure talking (to help establish character and credibility), followed by a few slides and ending with talking (again to reinforce those important leadership attributes.)

Remember that listening alone is hard work. And we do a disservice to the audience when we introduce material that makes it even more difficult.

That’s why the last of my five big tips to make your speech something the audience will actually listen to and hear is to add a little style into your writing.

No, this isn’t where you make your speaker sound like Kofi Annan or Winston Churchill. It’s where you edit the words toward three specific goals. You want to 1) make the words simple and clear; 2) make the language exciting and fresh; 3) make your speaker sound warm and personable (even if they aren’t).

Too many writers approach speeches thinking they have to sound dramatic and grand. As a result, their speakers appear to the audience as pretentious and pompous. The objective shouldn’t be toward elevated language; the objective should be audience understanding.

Small words are better than long ones. Familiar words are better than unfamiliar one. Sentences, too, should be simplified for the audience and the speaker.

This is especially true if you are writing for a non-native speaker. Audiences need time to process unfamiliar accents and speakers need to be comfortable delivering the words. Simplicity helps on both counts.

Simplicity doesn’t mean making the speech as lean as you can, however. In fact, most speechwriting is more expansive than other types of writing because you must give audiences time to catch up to what the speaker is saying.

If the goal is to create understanding, you often have to repeat your key messages, repeat and restate statistics and use examples and anecdotes to amplify your points.

At the same time, the language should be fun and exciting to hear. That means deliberately editing in a few of the most useful rhetorical devices. Inserting a rhetorical question, for instance, not only breaks up the speaker’s delivery patterns, it makes the audience think.

You’ll also want to make sure to vary the length of your sentences. Follow a longer sentence with a few short, staccato ones and make sure none of the sentences are too long for your speaker to deliver without gasping for air.

Finally, strive to make sure your speaker seems warm and personal. No one wants to hear someone – or be led by someone – who is all business all the time. So make an effort to make your speaker seem real and approachable.

The best way is to have them share personal anecdotes with the audience. If the anecdotes include some soft, self-deprecating humor, even better.

You can also use short, humorous quotations to great effect. These allow the speaker to be funny even if they naturally aren’t. These don’t have to be from Greek philosophers or business gurus, by the way. The speaker could quote one of their own children, a spouse, a funny headline from the newspaper or even an ad from television.

Lastly, make sure the speaker uses the word “you” a lot. Rewriting sentences to include the word “you” ensures the speakers talk directly to the audience. It’s a subtle device that audience members appreciate and will respond to.

This simple exercise is one of the last editing steps I take because I find it helps me – as a writer – remember who I’m really writing for. I’m writing for an audience and the speech has to be interesting for them above all else.

 

New Speechwriting Book Available

 

It’s officially official. My new book – 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech – is being published by the best brand in executive communications and speechwriting: Vital Speeches of the Day.

Here’s a link to the publication on Amazon.

So what are you waiting for? Buy one. Or two. They make great Christmas gifts for the favorite speechwriter in your life.

Official News Release:

PHOENIX (November 16, 2011) - It happens every day. A boss asks a communication staffer, "Can you write a speech?" The staffer wants to say yes—not just to the boss, but to the thrilling and potentially lucrative opportunity to craft messages directly for the leaders of the organization.
 
But the truth is the communication staffer is not sure where to begin.
 
Now the staffer can get up to speed—quickly and completely—by turning to 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech  the wise, realistic and readable new guide to speechwriting. It's written by speechwriting guru Fletcher Dean and published by the prestigious monthly magazine, Vital Speeches of the Day.

Written to cover every aspect of corporate, nonprofit and political speechwriting in the most practical terms, the 10 Steps speechwriting process is a foolproof recipe. Readers learn how to analyze audiences and tailor their words. Research the speech and tell compelling stories. Structure the talk and lend it some style. Support the speaker with visual aids and sound coaching on delivery.
 
Award-winning speechwriter Fletcher Dean teaches it all, in his no-nonsense style and with illuminating examples from the corporate, political, military and religious worlds.
 
“Lots of books contain advice on one or another aspect of the speechmaking process but I wrote this book because I wanted to have the whole thing in one place,” says author Fletcher Dean. “Plus, I wanted a book that reflected my own philosophy of speechwriting in a way that will give confidence to anyone struggling to write a speech.”
 
And Dean has done exactly that, says Vital Speeches editor David Murray, who wrote the Foreword to 10 Steps. For aspiring speechwriters or communication generalists pressed into speechwriting service, “This book is the best start you could possibly have,” Murray says.
 
Murray also sees distributing copies of 10 Steps as a shortcut for communication managers to achieve a common framework for far-flung speech contributors and even freelancers. Murray says his publisher is prepared to make generous bulk deals.
 
Though the book doesn’t officially go on sale until January 10, 2012, it can be purchased for $39.95 in advance of that date directly through the website of publisher Vital Speeches of the Day.

ABOUT FLETCHER DEAN
Fletcher Dean has more than 20 years’ experience as a communications professional. He is an award-winning writer of speeches and articles for a wide variety of business, educational and motivational speakers. He won the Cicero Speechwriting Awards Grand Prize for the best speech of the year in 2008 as well as three other Gold Cicero Awards. He’s a four-time presenter at the annual Speechwriting Conference in Washington, D.C.
 
ABOUT VITAL SPEECHES OF THE DAY
Vital Speeches of the Day gives you an unbiased look at the most important speeches from today's top speech givers. You’ll read the finest examples of rhetoric by those who have attained leadership in the fields of business, politics, education, government, and more.

5 Steps to a Successful Speech - Part 1

This post was originally featured in Communications Director magazine. Here's Part 1. Check back for Part 2.

It can strike fear into the heart of even the most seasoned communications professional. You’ve been asked to write a speech.

The first reaction is usually flattery that someone thinks so highly of your writing skills. Then there’s panic. Then mind-numbing, blank-page introspection. How do I start? Should I try for humor? Does my speaker need to sound like President Obama? Or should he just try to be himself? Is it too late to find another job? Why me?  

Never fear. What to others may seem like a mysterious, arcane endeavor can actually be a very straight-forward and successful task. So what’s the secret to writing a successful speech? It’s quite simple: a successful speech is one the audience will listen and react to.

Yes, there are entire shelves of books on speechwriting. (I have one myself that’s coming out this fall in a project with Vital Speeches of the Day.) And yes people go to conferences and get training to become better speechwriters. But all of the books and all of the training essentially land on this single point: will the audience listen and will it react the way you want it to?

So here are five must-do tips for ensuring the next speech you write is must-listen-to material.

Tip One

The first tip is to begin every speech by focusing on the audience itself. If this is the only tip you follow, the next speech you write will be better than most.

When I first began writing speeches, an older and wiser speechwriter took me aside and explained this very bluntly. Like a lot of younger writers, I wanted the speeches I wrote to sound grandiose and soaring. I wanted the language to be lyrical and every speech to get a standing ovation.

“Listen,” he said, “all audiences are the same. They just want to know how to be healthier, wealthier or happier. If you can give them even one of those, you’ll do just fine.”

In fact, every audience member is asking the same thing when your speaker stands at the podium: What is this speaker going to say that’s going to make my life better?

Answer that first before you begin to draft your own messages.

Too many writers turn the speaker/audience paradigm around and begin with what they want to say. The result is that speakers seem out of touch and boring because they haven’t identified a common problem.

So tip number one is to focus on the audience and solve their needs. If you write a speech that could make them healthier, wealthier or happier, they will be interested in what your speaker says and you’ve got the beginnings of a great speech.

Tip Two

The second big tip for a successful speech is to rely more on emotions and less on logic.

I was listening to a radio program a few weeks ago about an effort by photographers in the United States to show the new face of poverty in the country. The interviewer asked why it was important to get these photographs in front of everyday people rather than simply giving them the data about poverty.

The photographer being interviewed said something every speechwriter should hear. “The fact of the matter is,” he said, “anecdote trumps facts every time.”

All of us are creatures of emotions. It’s why television commercials asking for asking for aid money to feed the hungry or help those injured in natural disasters use images of destruction and despair.

Unfortunately, too many speakers believe if they just explain the situation in a cool and reasoned way, the audience will get it. But if you really want to connect with an audience, use emotional devices. And the best way to do that is by telling stories.

More than any other device, stories can deliver the emotional appeal that audiences respond to. Stories can actually bring material to life and are often more believable than facts alone. Why? Because they do two things very well.

Stories let audience members place themselves inside the story, relate it to events in their own lives, and compare it with something personal to them. They also allow the listeners reach their own conclusions about the facts by putting abstract, logical data into context.

I encourage speakers to include stories about who they are or how they learned what they know to be true. Teaching stories – where they learned a greater truth – are especially powerful and emotional.

 -- To be continued --

Lessons from Photography

Years ago – before I moved into the print world as a journalist and then speechwriter – I was a photographer. I shot for a local paper and thought perhaps that’s where my future was. Then I discovered I was a better writer than I was a photographer and the rest, as they say, is history. 

The industry now refers to me as a serious amateur. Which means I shoot a lot. (This fall, I’m shooting a lot of football and clicking away upwards of 1,700 shots a week, for instance.) It also means I try to pay attention to what’s happening in the photo world. 

Rarely do the two worlds of photography and speechwriting mix. That’s why I was so pleased when I recently heard a photographer – on the radio – talk about a subject that resonated deeply with me as a speechwriter.

The story was on NPR’s All Things Considered. Michele Norris was interviewing Steve Liss, a project director for Americanpoverty.org, which is a collection of photographers who are trying to capture the face of poverty in America today. (Link to the interview transcript.) 

Norris asked what role photography played in getting this story in front of people.

The photographer being interviewed said something every speechwriter should hear. “The fact of the matter is,” Liss said, “anecdote trumps facts every time.”

There’s a big, big lesson for us here. Aristotle points out that persuasive communications requires three things: logic, character and emotion. We’re all familiar with logic. It’s the basic bread and butter of most speeches – those facts and stats that get plugged in as proof points.

Character is what our speakers take to the podium with them. We can enhance it by making sure the introduction is right, he/she is quoting the right people, the facts and stats and sources we use are credible.

But emotion is the real kicker here. It’s what the AmericanPoverty.org campaign uses.

Despite what we might want to believe, we’re all creatures of emotions. It’s why television commercials asking for asking for aid money for natural disasters use images of destruction and despair. They hit in places that logic can’t touch.

Too many speakers believe if they just explain the situation in a cool and reasoned way, the audience will “get it.” But if you really want to connect with an audience, use emotional devices. And the best way to do that is by telling stories and using anecdotes.

More than any other devices, stories and anecdotes deliver the emotional appeal that audiences respond to. Stories bring material to life and have an aura of truth about them.

They let audience members place themselves inside the story, relate it to events in their own lives, and compare it with something personal to them. And they let listeners reach their own conclusions about the facts by putting abstract, logical data into context.

This is one reason why PowerPoint presentations – by themselves – are generally so crappy. Most of the time they lack emotion. We fill slide after slide with data but forget that it’s stories people long to hear and stories that people respond to.

It’s why Michele Bachman used the story of the woman who supposedly claimed her daughter was mentally impaired because of the HPV vaccine. It was an incredibly powerful story – more powerful than facts alone – and could have won the day for her, especially if the media had been able to verify it.

So the next time you need to persuade an audience, think about photography and work to get a mental image into the audience’s mind. Logic is great. Character is a pre-requisite. But you really need emotion to make an impact.

Since I used one great Greek earlier, let me end with another. Archimedes once said, “Give me a place to stand - and a fulcrum - and I can move the world.”

Emotion is the fulcrum.  

 

Commencement Speeches 2011: The best ... and the rest

The familiar refrains of “Pomp and Circumstance” have faded. Mortar boards and gowns have been carefully folded and put away. The Class of 2011 has (mostly) left the auditorium, in search of jobs and new apartments. All of which means it’s time again to commit ourselves to a reckoning of the best, the worst and the merely mediocre commencement speeches of 2011. 

This year’s crop of speeches – from luminaries, CEOs, actors, and secretaries of this department or that – was largely “B” work. Most was filled with the typical fluff and pith: follow your dream, be passionate, don’t be a cynic, we need your talents more than ever, etc. But most of the ones I read tended to be shorter than usual so there wasn’t much room for the speakers to get into real trouble by going too far afield or losing their audiences in a reckless ramble of thought.

That’s actually an improvement over past years when it was easy to find several true stinkers without really trying. In fact, I had to read many dozen to find a couple that were so off-the-mark as to qualify as examples of “please-don’t-do-this” primers.

So here’s a sampling of this year’s commencement speeches and what we speechwriters can learn from them for next year. These aren’t the best of the best or even the worst of the worst. They’re only the ones I tripped across and thought we could learn something from. If you found a great example we can learn from, post it below in the comments section.

First, some of the best in no particular order:

• Robert Cargill, Fresno City College. This nice speech does several things right. First, all speakers like to tell a bit of their life stories but few have the skill to pull it off like Cargill. He doesn’t bore the audience with his life history, but collects his life’s ups and downs into a short, snappy segments punctuated repeatedly with “I am you, 18 years from now.” It’s an effective way to remind the audience that life is unpredictable but survivable. This speech is also short with a solid structure that respects the fact that the audience has better things to do than listen to a commencement speaker. The big lessons? Keep the language engaging, the length short and the structure simple.
• Denzel Washington, University of Pennsylvania. My confession: I picked this speech because I was sure that the actor – like so many other celebrities – would flub this one by focusing only on himself. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Washington begins this with some great “insider jokes” that all the grads would get. Specific comments about the food on campus, the squirrel population and a guy named “kweeder” all show he did his homework. Audiences appreciate that.  (OK, it probably helped that his son is a Penn student but what the audience hears is ‘I care.’) Two things make this speech (video version) a real success, though. One, his language is natural and uncontrived. It’s comfortable to hear. Secondly, he uses a very brief personal anecdote to segue into his main point: “don’t fall back, fall forward.” Big Lesson? Find a short, memorable theme and stick with it. Be yourself. It works.
• Robert Krulwich, University of Berkeley School of Journalism. Another surprise. I picked this largely because it was eight pages long, single-spaced! I knew it would be a first-rate example of speaking too long, disrespecting your audience, etc. Alas, it turned out to be a first-rate speech, my personal favorite, and probably the most appropriate one I found for the audience. Krulwich is a radio and TV journalist and he hit the J-school grads where it hurts: “How these days does anybody get a good job in journalism?” he asked. Given the rapidly changing world of journalism, you know it has to be on their minds. He provides an optimistic answer and along the way tells a host of good stories. For any other audience, this would be a misguided approach. The safe course is to get into the speech and get out. Be the apocryphal body at an Irish wake and all of that. But journalism students – like most speechwriters – love a good story. And Krulwich manages to tell several relevant stories without losing his audience. Big Lesson? Know your audience and write appropriately.
• Sheryl Sandberg, Barnard College. The COO of Facebook delivers a solid commencement speech here. It’s virtually a how-to all by itself. She uses short anecdotes from her life to make larger points. Her language has nice rhythms – short sentences, long sentences. She doesn’t make it a “Sheryl Sandberg” speech or a “Facebook” speech or a product ad (unlike Steve Ballmer of Microsoft who clumsily dropped in references to Microsoft products in his talk at the University of Southern California). Most of all, she has crafted a speech exquisitely appropriate for the audience of female grads: how to succeed in what is largely still a man’s world. Big lesson? Having something interesting to say – a real point of view – will take you a long way.

Now for the rest. The not-so-good, off-the-mark speeches that make you want to pick up the phone and offer your speechwriting services. Or at least some counsel.

• Sylvia Earle, Smith College. OK, it does make sense for speakers to pull from their lives and tell stories from their own realms. Business leaders talk about succeeding in business. Doctors talk about treating the ill. But the best commencement speeches use these anecdotes as short parables. They’re tools to find the universal theme the graduates can learn from. Unfortunately, Earle – an oceanographer – offers three full pages (about three-quarters of her talk) on how terrible the oceans are. What a bummer. On a day that should be celebratory! Big lesson? No one wants to hear the negatives on a day of triumph. Keep it positive and focus on the graduates.
• Sec. of Defense Robert Gates, Notre Dame. This was a great example of a fine speech … but a terrible commencement speech. Technically, this is as sound a speech (video version) as you would expect from Gates, someone whose speeches I’ve always admired. It moves quickly. The language is competent if not inspiring. The biggest problem is that it really doesn’t relate to the occasion. The speech is all about defense policy. Boring … for this audience at this time. A better approach might have been to share a few “observations” from his vaulted position – very appropriate considering he’s announced his retirement – and what that means for the grads entering the big, bad world. Tell them what he has learned that they can use. Big lesson? Give the audience a reason for listening.
• Jo Ivey Boufford, Pace University. Another example of taking yourself and your job way too seriously. Boufford is president of the New York Academy of Medicine. You get the feeling she didn’t have time to write a commencement speech and grabbed the first old policy speech she could get her hands on. There’s nothing here for the audience to listen to. Yes, I get it: healthcare is important. And she’s president of a medical association. But is it really appropriate to tell a bunch of grads that “Just last week, the first-ever grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to improve indoor air quality and eliminate household environmental conditions that exacerbate asthma symptoms was awarded to a faith based community organization Little Sisters of the Assumption with deep roots in East Harlem, a low-income, minority neighborhood where asthma is a leading cause of school and work absences, emergency room visits and hospitalizations”? Makes you pine away for a good, old-fashioned Mahatma Gandhi quote, doesn’t it? Plus, that was a 60-word sentence! I’m kind of surprised she didn’t faint just trying to deliver that one line and have to be revived on the spot. Unlike the rest of the speech, at least that would have been memorable. Big lesson? Lighten up a little, OK? Graduations are supposed to be fun.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for commencement speeches. I do know – and this year’s speeches reinforce this – that if you want to fail: talk about yourself, talk about your company, talk about things the grads can’t relate to.

Success is more fleeting. Humor works (Denzel Washington). Brevity is an advantage (Robert Cargill). Having a real point of view helps (Sheryl Sandberg). Using language and stories that engages the audience and is fun to listen to is a real bonus (Robert Krulwich).

But perhaps the biggest lesson from this year’s offerings is the simplest. Once again, I’m reminded of my favorite mantra I try to deliver at every conference and every workshop: It’s not about the speaker. It’s not about their life’s work. It’s all about the audience. To paraphrase former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, if you begin with a deep respect for the audience, everything will fall into place.

Lessons from the Speechwriters Conference

I’m still unpacking – physically and mentally – from Ragan’s 2011 Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference in Washington, DC last week. But on the plane ride home and in the subsequent few days, I have come to a few conclusions – lessons, perhaps – about the conference and attendees.

1)     Speechwriters are good people – Everyone I met was willing to talk, share ideas and solutions for whatever problems the attendees wished to bare. They gave freely of their time and their knowledge and have made this my favorite conference over the years.

2)     Speechwriters are interesting company – Whether it was in a side-conference at the event itself or in a restaurant in another part of town, the speechwriters I met were fun to talk with and inherently interesting people. Perhaps it’s because the best speechwriters are already intellectually curious and well-read individuals, but the range and depth of conversations was inspiring.

3)     Speechwriters are in demand – This was the first Speechwriters conference I’ve attended where recruiters showed up with positions to fill. There were two that I met and a few others who weren’t there but asked that their positions be shared.

4)     We can do more – Perhaps it’s because the turnover rate for speechwriters seems so high – at least 2/3 of the attendees were new to the conference this year – but it was obvious to me that to add real value, we can do more than be “just” speechwriters. Many attendees – myself included – are interested in how to write better speeches. But too often we look at the individual speeches (the trees) and fail to see how they fit in with the rest of the organization’s executive communications strategy (the forest). Pete Weissman, Boe Workman and others shared great advice on this during the Executive Communicators track.

5)     Best tips – There were several but a couple hit home for me:

a.     Rob Friedman, from Eli Lilly, urged us to not only take the hill, but make sure we take the right hill when it comes to speechwriting. Lots of people can write nice speeches but are we giving it to the right audience for the right reasons?

b.     David Murray, the esteemed editor of Vital Speeches, gave his always entertaining Speechwriting Jam Session during which he reminded us that we need to talk beyond our base. We should, in other words, quit preaching to the choir that already believes in our message and start preaching to the non-believers, too.

c.     Michael Field, from Johns Hopkins, showed us in his “So You Want to Give a TED Talk” presentation that the best speakers and the best speeches are about ideas and not products. If you haven’t seen the TED commandments about giving speeches, look it up.

d.     The best tip I didn’t hear in a session? As one attendee mentioned, some of the best conversations didn’t happen in the organized sessions but in the hallways and after-conference get-togethers. And it was in one of these that I was reminded how important it was to have collaborators, people with whom you can safely trust your ideas (and early drafts) and who you know will provide you with solid advice in return. Set up a quid-pro-quo arrangement with someone – even if they are outside your own organization – and watch your speechwriting improve.

If you have never attended the conference - and speechwriting is even part of your responsibilities - hold a place on your calendar for next year's event. You won't be disappointed. You might even be inspired.

Warm and Personal Tops Funny Every Day

It’s one of the greatest fears – and myths – about speech making: Speakers have to be funny.

Why oh why do speakers put extra pressure on themselves to be the next standup comedian? Why do some insist that every speech open with a joke?

Yes, humor add tremendous value to a speech. It can add warmth, it can show that your speaker is open, and it can make an uncomfortable situation a little more bearable by taking some of the tension from the room. But it also has significant risks and must be handled with care.

On the positive side, consider U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal. The general was forced into retirement in 2010 for making unflattering remarks about Vice President Biden and others in a Rolling Stone article. During his retirement speech, he used humor to great effect.

He began with a joke about wanting to exaggerate his accomplishments then follows it up with another that signals he’s not there to dodge the question of his retirement.

“ ... to those here tonight who feel the need to contradict my memories with the truth, remember I was there, too. I have stories on all of you, photos on many, and I know a Rolling Stone reporter.”

He follows in a long list of public figures who have used humor to disarm their critics. President Reagan was a master at it. For those who thought his advanced age was a problems, he would deliver a version of this joke: “Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”

And even President Obama used humor – of all places – in an otherwise sobering State of the Union address earlier this year. In a very Reagan-esque line about the large size of the Federal government, Obama said: "The Interior Department is in charge of salmon while they're in fresh water, but the Commerce Department handles them in when they're in saltwater. I hear it gets even more complicated once they're smoked."

But those examples are the exception. Most speakers 1) don’t need to be funny and 2) aren’t that funny to begin with. I’ve found that most audiences react better to authentic warmth and caring than they do a forced joke.

And for every joke that goes well, there are many more that fall short of making your speaker appear warm and caring. Anyone remember Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes?

So, what to do? My standing rule of thumb is: If your speaker is naturally funny, encourage him or her to be funny (with your skilled guidance). On the other hand, if they lack the humor gene, remind them of why they are speaking in the first place and put forward the argument that humor may detract from that goal.

Still want to proceed with humor? Here are a few guidelines. Never use humor that:

• Is based on ethnicity, gender or race. Don’t even try it.
• Is a canned joke you got from a joke book or the Internet. If you saw it, chances are someone else did, too.
• Is hurtful to anyone or any organization. Never ridicule. If there’s ever a doubt, leave it out.
• Takes longer than one minute to get to the punch line.
• Depends on context. Jokes can – and will – be taken out of context. 

So what does work? A couple of things:

• Self-deprecating humor. McChrystal shows us the way. Poking a little fun at yourself is a great way to show humility and openness. It’s safe and shows the audience the speaker is comfortable. But please, oh please, never allow your speakers to make fun of their speaking ability. It’s the last thing an audience needs to hear.

Another self-deprecating example from President Obama, whose love of playing basketball is well known: When he was awarding the Medal of Freedom to basketball player Bill Russell recently, President Obama made light of his own basketball abilities. Basketball, he said, “... is what I do; that's not what I am. I'm not a basketball player; I am a man who plays basketball.”

• Funny quotations. Short, humorous quotations allow you to be funny even when you aren’t because your speaker is simply channeling someone else. They work especially well if the audience is familiar with the original source.

• Funny headlines. Competing newspapers or news web sites often have funny headlines or two separate headlines that seem to say the opposite things. Relating these kinds of personal observations can be a safe way to get people laughing.

• Personal anecdotes. Brief stories about your speaker’s background, kids or pets play well, especially if the humor is a bit self-deprecating or provides the audience with an insight into the speaker.

When Churchill Comes Alive

It’s always nice when some of our favorite quotes seem to come to life in the real world.

Here’s a brief story from the holidays that may help reaffirm something you speechwriters – and parents – have long believed but were hard pressed to prove.

We all know that repetition is one of the speechwriter’s most hallowed tactical devices. Unlike those scribes who dwell solely in the world of print (where readers can return to a line again and again to gain understanding through rereading), speechwriters understand that it’s nearly impossible for a live audience to “rehear” a speech.

It’s true that, if they hear a confusing line, they can hit the proverbial replay button in their head. But while they’re doing that, the speaker – and the message – has moved on.

So we often employ the same tactics speechwriters have used throughout history to ensure a message is heard and understood: repeat ad nauseum.  It was Winston Churchill, after all, who reminded us: “If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit again. Then hit a third time – a tremendous whack.” 

So I whack away in many of the speeches I write, finding new ways to deliver what is essentially a single message. Say it. Say it again. Say it a third time. Repeat as necessary.

But I was reminded over the holidays that Churchill’s advice has a broader meaning than a solitary speech.

Just before the holidays, my oldest son – a high school junior – asked when I was going to give him and his siblings “the speech.” Now, there are several speeches in my dad repertoire so I was understandably perplexed.

“The speech?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “You know, the one about not acting crazy and doing something stupid on the last school day before the holidays.”

“Ah-hah!” I thought to myself. “That would be Dad Speech No. 47. The speech where I essentially say: Behave yourself ... don’t act up just because the other kids are ... give your teachers a break. Or else.”

And then it hit me. I have given that speech countless times. I gave it before every long school holiday and every summer break, times when I knew from experience that the temptations to be reckless were at their highest. What I never knew until that moment was that they were actually listening. But apparently, sometime (maybe it was the fifth time I delivered it or maybe the tenth), they heard the message. It was a Churchillian proof point in real time.

It was one of those times that reminded me – as a parent and a speechwriter – that you can’t say the important stuff too many times. The lesson applies equally well to corporate communication (think of the CEO’s safety message) as it does to parent-child communication. Repetition is the key.

Don’t be cute or clever. Don’t be subtle Use a pile driver. Say it. Say it again. And then say it a third time. Because it’s just when you’re getting tired of saying it that they actually start to hear.

A Recipe for Failure

I was doing some research on “low-carbon economy” (Yes, I do have a fascinating job. Tomorrow I’m going to research tort reform!) and ran across what is arguably the worst speech I’ve seen in quite some time. There are so many problems, it could stand as a recipe for failure.

To protect the guilty, I won’t highlight the speaker or organization, but here’s a run-thru of the problems.

Boring Opening – If you’re spending anything more than 30 seconds saying ‘thank you for inviting me’ you’re going to lose your audience. Get to the meat fast. 

Where’s the WIIFM ? – Following a bad opening, the speaker then proceeds to confirm the audience’s worst fears: this person has no clue what the audience wants to hear. The speaker says: “Today, I am happy to share with you what XYZ has done in the area of energy efficiency, environmental protection and fuel production as well as my views on world energy, the environment and global economy.” Whatever happened to the mandate that every speech must give the audience something back and honor every listener’s main question: What’s In It For Me?

Commercial Speak – Three paragraphs of “here’s what my company does” comes next. Ugh. That should be in the promotional literature or in the speaker’s intro. Not in a speech.

Telling Them What They Know – If the audience isn’t already asleep, the speaker then proceeds to enlighten them with stuff they already know: there’s an energy crisis, an environmental crisis and financial crisis. And ... wait for it ... all of this is creating “challenges.” Nearly four pages of this nonsense. Still nothing the audience needs.

Numbing Them With Numbers – Numbers are hard to hear and difficult to process. If you have to use them, find a way to simplify or restate them. But one paragraph in this speech contained the following: 1.8 trillion RMB, 1.27 trillion RMB, 24th, 500, 5th, Top 50, 2008, 108 million tons, 58%, 61.7 billion cubic meters, 80% and six years.

We Interrupt This Speech for Another Commercial – As if the first commercial wasn’t enough, the speech ends with three pages of what XYZ is doing to adapt and become a “diversified global enterprise.” There might be a nugget here for the savvy listener – if any were still awake. But not much the audience can walk away with and use.

Ending? What Ending? – Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen an ending like this outside a Speech 101 college classroom. The speaker finishes with: “That’s the end of my speech. Thank you for your attention.” (Insert sounds of crickets chirping nervously here.)

On top of that, the speaker forgot to:

• Give the speech a structure the audience could follow;
• Insert some language that was fresh and exciting;
• Drop in a few quotes, anecdotes, stats or any research that would make the audience want to listen;
• Reach for something other than a basic informational talk;
• End with something rousing.

Other than that, it was practically flawless.

So endeth the lesson. I yield the soapbox.