Translating client feedback: What they say vs. what they want
One of your most important skills as a speechwriter is listening to your client when they give you feedback. That often means hearing past their words, to what they’re actually saying… and it almost always means probing more deeply for the real issue behind a comment...Maybe speechwriting doesn’t matter so much after all..?
You’ve probably heard speeches you’d swear were content-free. Here’s one that actually is — and it’s a TEDx talk. Beneath that hollow exterior lurks actual content: a pretty devastating critique of how a thin speech can inflate its apparent substance using the...
The Presentation Audience’s Bill of Rights
WHEREAS life is short and our time on Earth is finite; WHEREAS the duration of a bad presentation is subjectively many times longer than that of a good one; WHEREAS the dedication of audience’s time and attention to a speaker is a gift of considerable value, not...
When your audience isn’t feeling the Bern
This weekend, Bernie Sanders spoke to a predominantly African-American audience at the dining room of a South Carolina church. According to this account, the response from the mealtime crowd was tepid: polite clapping for all but a couple of lines. We’re used to...
The Pigeon of Dorian Gray, and why you should throw it off the fire escape
Early in my speechwriting career, I was writing for a political candidate. It began with a few weeks of straight-up euphoria. Great news coverage. Enthusiastic volunteers. Support and donations rolling in. (And I got to use state-of-the-art technology: a Compaq...
Why, yes — I’d LOVE to speak at your event
Public speaking and speechwriting: the essential guides
Looking for advice on public speaking, speechwriting and leadership communications? Here are some of my most comprehensive posts, on topics that people ask me about most often.
