I just read some Mind Mints at www.garyforman.com. The guy can write. Who is Gary Forman? He’s a speech writer, a good one. I know he’s good because last year I partnered with him on a speech for Endo Pharmaceuticals, and… Read More »Kick Butt Presenting
It is Sunday afternoon. My wife is away for a week at a poetry summit in California. No food in the fridge, dishes in the sink, bed unmade. Too much TV. My daughter is engrossed in the music scene of… Read More »The autobiography of a speech coach
Gary Forman is a friend of mine. He’s a great speech writer. He was working on a stump speech for himself. He came over to read it to me and get my feedback. It was fabulous, and so was he, a fierce partisan in… Read More »The Youie Youness of You
I just witnessed several clients reading scripts. There was something very unsatisfying about the experience for me. They lacked life and expression. They didn’t appear to mean what they were saying. Yet scripts are often useful and necessary. So what… Read More »Reading a speech vs. giving a presentation
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
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