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...Illuminate: the exciting new book from Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez
There’s a new book out this week from Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez, and I’m pretty excited. Ms. Duarte’s earlier books Slideology and Resonate changed the way I think about presentations and speaking. They breathed new life into the three-act structure, and gave us...Capturing a speaker’s voice matters
This post argues that speechwriters shouldn’t worry about capturing a speaker’s voice. Structure the speech well, Mike Long argues, and it’ll all come out in the wash. And while I understand that all the tailored turns of phrase in the world...Origin story: how I became a speechwriter
With one confident answer, I launched my career as a speechwriter. These 5 lessons can help you do it, too.