A good speech has a voice. It sounds like an individual—specifically, the individual who is delivering the speech. It should not sound like the speechwriter. And yet us speechwriters are often given only a brief time with the speaker to… Read More »Your speechwriter: How to get the most out of him
After seeing David Mamet’s play Race on Broadway, Sharon and I had half-an-hour until our train left New York’s Penn Station for our home in Montclair, New Jersey. We went to a bar. I ordered a Heineken and she a glass… Read More »Don’t read this one
Frank Kern is senior vice-president of IBM Global Business Services. On May 19, 2010, he released a new survey of 1,500 chief executives conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value. Are you ready for this? According to that survey, today’s… Read More »Creative Public Speaking and Presenting
You may be familiar with Matt Latimer’s book Speech*Less about his career as a speechwriter in Washington during the Bush administration. Apparently, President Bush had learned at Yale that all speeches should have an introduction, three points, a peroration, and… Read More »In search of creative public speaking
Under the shadow of Armando Galarraga’s stolen perfect game, and umpire Jim Joyce’s human imperfection, I am moved to ponder the word pitch. In baseball, when a pitch comes at you, it is meant to either intimidate, bamboozle, or go… Read More »The Perfect Pitch
The famed defense attorney, F. Lee Bailey, was once asked what the key was to a successful case. People expected him to say a spellbinding closing statement or a good jury selection process or an impressive cross-examination of a crucial… Read More »Facts Make the Speech Writer