The Speechwriter May 2012

May 2012 | Volume 09

The Speechwriter

WelcomeWelcome to the ninth edition

of The Speechwriter newsletter.

The purpose of this publication is

to circulate examples of excellent

speeches to members of the UK

Speechwriters’ Guild. We do this

by picking out openings, closings,

one-liners and quotations and

other topical extracts from

newspapers and the internet to

identify techniques, stimulate

your imagination and provide

models which you can emulate.

This newsletter appears

quarterly and is available to

anyone who is a Standard

Member of the UK Speechwriters’

Guild or the European

Speechwriter Network.

ContributeWe need your speeches. Most

of the examples in this edition are

taken from the Americans.

We want to raise standards in

the UK. Please send examples of

speeches to:

[email protected]

W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K • I N F O @ U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K

In the July 1997 an American public relations expert called

James E Lukaszewski made a speech in Cleveland, USA, titled: ‘Becoming a Verbal Visionary’.

He said that the dominant force in decision making is verbal power – talking. A verbal visionary is someone able to move people through speech power.

One powerful habit of visionary communication is to say less but make it more important; to write less but make it sayable and listenable.

So how do you become a verbal visionary? Ask yourself:

What do you believe? Even though what you believe rarely changes, write it down. Say it out loud.

Who are you? Say it out loud. Write it down.

What are your personal limits? What are the things you can’t do and won’t do? Set those limits. Write them down.

What are your aspirations? Who, what, where do you want to be? Write them down.

What are your principles? What are the parameters of your life? Write them down.

What is your destiny? Do you have an inner sense of where you are going?

Write it down. Say it out loud.

Benjamin Franklin lived by what he referred to as 13 virtues. He kept a little book with him for more than 50 years. Each of the 13 virtues was printed on a separate page. Each day he evaluated his performance; every week he chose one virtue to focus and work on for that week.

He read it, worked on it, and lived it. His 13 virtues were temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility chastity, and humility.

It might be useful for you to consider using Franklin’s approach. A verbal visionary lives and works his or her principles, values, aspirations, and vision every day.

MASTERCLASS by James E Lukaszewski

EUROPEANSPEECHWRITERNETWORK

UK Speechwriters' GuildNewsletter of the incorporating


don’t need slides so much as a subsidiary function, and he offers help finding one.

He’s brilliant, too, on finding the speech’s topic. “Try writing the opposite of what you have written,” he suggests. “If it makes sense, you have a credible topic.” These chapters alone are worth the price of the book.

Given this evident good sense, it’s a pity the chapter on language offers so little detailed guidance. We’re told to read Orwell (good advice but hardly groundbreaking), and to avoid clichés (his dislike of ‘proactive’ seems harsh). We’re offered a four-page anecdote that may or may not be about Henry Kissinger. We need more.

Collins ends by suggesting that “profound public speech has become more difficult than ever before.” But he still believes in the moral force of rhetoric. He’s amazed that so many corporate leaders don’t seem to care about being dull and unclear. “They should care, because to speak poorly in public is a bad thing to do in itself.” He’s echoing Quintilian, who defined rhetoric as ‘a good man speaking well’. And he’s right.

MicrostyleBy Christopher JohnsonPublished by Norton and Co, 2011 (246 pages) ISBN-13: 978-0393077407, £14.99

Microstyle is the style of the micromessage: the headline, the slogan, the tweet. Big Style has governed formal writing since the advent of printing. Microstyle is really the old oral style of proverbs, aphorisms and epigrams. But with electronic media and the attention economy, microstyle has found a new lease of life.

Big Style generates style guides; microstyle, says Johnson, needs a field guide. We’d love language

The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You SayBy Philip CollinsPublished by John Wiley and Sons (206 pages) ISBN 9780470711842, £14.99

Tony Blair’s former speechwriter is on a mission. Many speakers worry about how they will perform, he says, “but they do not worry enough about writing the speech in the first place.”

The point’s well made. Some write speeches; some write speeches for others; and some present. Presenters – by definition – tend to write nothing but slides. Collins wants to help all three groups find better words. Tall order.

He’s at his best when he focuses on the speech itself. He understands that classical rhetoric says little about explanation, and seeks to redress the balance. Informative presentations

more, he says, if we shifted our linguistic focus from judgement and insecurity to curiosity and appreciation. “I wrote this book,” he writes, “to let you observe words in the wild through a linguist’s eyes.” Johnson – both an academic and a verbal branding consultant – mixes poetics and relevance theory with close analysis of six-word stories, film titles and political slogans. The combination is sometimes uneasy, but it means we get remarkable insights. (I particularly like cranberry morphemes.) In four sections – dealing with meaning, sound, structure and social context – Johnson shows how microstyle changes the relationship between writer and reader.

The writer’s task is to grab the reader’s attention; readers, in turn, contribute wit and context to fill micromessages with meaning.

Microstyle emerges from conversation and, at its best, evokes it. Johnson is a prophet of what Walter Ong called secondary orality. His book is a serious contribution to this new rhetoric, and it fulfils its promise as a field guide. You’ll see – and use – language differently after reading it.

Alan Barker


BOOK REVIEWS

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Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild

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In the internet age, we can often can read a speech, free from any

‘embargo’, before it’s actually been given.

One thing that struck me about it was that there were rather a lot of sequences without any verbs, a practice pioneered in some of Tony Blair’s early leader’s speeches to the Labour Party Conference. But I’m no more convinced by it now than I was then.

Reading Miliband’s forthcoming speech also reminded me that verblessness is not something I recommend in my speechwriting courses either.

It also made me realise that I’m not quite sure why I don’t and wonder whether I should.

Maybe it’s because all these verbless phrases and isolated participles come across as disembodied lists that make it sound like the speaker’s reading out the blobs/bullet points on a PowerPoint slide.

Or maybe I’m just an old fogey who’s too preoccupied with the conventions of grammar to have

noticed that the language of public speaking has changed.

If it has, I’d welcome advice on whether you think it’s a change for the better.

In the following sequences from the speech, the few sentences with verbs in them are singled out in italics:

Nobody will be in any doubt that change is necessary for our country.Unemployment rising. 1 million young people out of work.Living standards squeezed for all but a few at the top. Irresponsibility still being rewarded in huge pay rises and bank bonuses.And there are problems that go beyond one government.

Long hours. Wages not going up. Costs rising. Strains on families. Worries about the future. An economy not working for working people.

I have changed where we stand.Equality of sacrifice and fairness of reward matter. To me. To Labour. To Britain.

For too many years, some of the most powerful in society thought no-one could stand up to them even if they were ripping people off. Energy companies. Train companies. Banks. Even media companies. I have changed where we stand.No company is too powerful to challenge. Standing with people in tough times is what counts. To me. To Labour. To Britain.


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THE VERBLESS SPEECH by Max Atkinson

That we are the party for the tougher times not just the easier times. I have changed where we stand.Changing our economy with:

Better quality jobs. A living wage. Making sure that businesses can get the money they need to grow. This matters.To me. To Labour. To Britain.

And I am proud to lead a party affiliated to three million working people through our link to the trade unions: The nurses who look after the sick.The teaching assistants who teach our kids. The shopworkers, the engineers, the bus drivers. But I know we can do more.

We do it by making promises we know we can keep. Not image over substance. Not fake change. But by offering a different direction for the country. That is where I stand. That is where Labour stands. With you, on your side in these tough times. That’s what we’re fighting for in these local elections.

Do Speeches Still Matter?

Dr Max Atkinson, Chris Witt, Christian Eversbusch and many more will be speaking at autumn conference of the UK Speechwriters’ Guild in conjunction with Bournmeouth University Media School, 20/21 September 2012. For more details go to:

http://speechesmatter.eventbrite.co.uk/


Do you know when self-employed people fail?

They give up. I failed. I lost my money. Nobody bought them. I’ll never do it again.

9/10 burglars go back to burgling. What is it? Why weren’t they defeated?

Because they go away to prison for a few years of gentle reflection. They meet other burglars who they share stories with. They network.

How did you get pinched, Brian? I had my mobile phone on me. Do you know the coppers can track them? No.

So he comes out a better burglar, with better ideas and he’ll share stories, and he will never make the same mistake again.

Next time he might get pinched for finger prints. But he won’t be caught by the old mobile phone trouble again. He will succeed by learning and learning.

Now before you rush out and buy this book thinking it’s advising you to be a burglar. It’s using those sort of thoughts that drives through the whole book.

Because I’m passionate, passionate about making you succeed.

When you’ve read Self-Made Me you will have no excuse to come up to me and say it just didn’t work, I picked the wrong business, I couldn’t get the money, there wasn’t any business, I was in the wrong part of the world.

Speech made to camera by Geoff Burch to promote his new book Self-Made Me


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Who is really successful at being self-employed?

I came up with a really naughty thought.

The person who really is the perfect model for self-employment is a burglar.

Burglars don’t worry about finding the work. They go out and do it. They go out and burgle. Off they go and burgle. And they just go and do it.

They’ve got mates. They’ve got friends. They’ve got people they know, they can call on. They form these loose alliances.

There’s Jimmy the driver. And Billy the safe man. They’ll get together and pull the big bank job. But they don’t want to form a limited company called Crime Inc. No. They get together for that job. When we do that job, he’s the manager.

It’s great. But here’s another thing about our burglar.

He knows the people he’s chosen to work with are criminals. They can’t be trusted. So when the job starts he makes sure he’s going to get paid. He knows when those spoils are being

delivered he’s getting his share.

So many self-employed people say I’m going to work with my brother-in-law, he says he’s going to split the money when we get it. Yeah?

We’re not sure when we’re going to get paid but there’s a big company that promised loads of work. Yeah?

Just ask them to sign a little old contract then.

The burglar absolutely no way. He knows he works with crooks.

But there’s another thing about the burglar, deep in his heart, he’s driven by something else. He’s driven by, in his case, dishonesty. You leave your wallet on the bar, he might describe himself as a professional burglar, but he’ll still nick your wallet.

But he’s able to take opportunities. Here’s an opportunity. It’s an opportunity, he takes it. In your heart you should want to be free and self-employed.

Okay, you want to start a business making shelves and somebody wants you to make a cake.

It doesn’t matter. It’s an opportunity. Make the cake. Take the money. Because in your heart you’re being successfully self-employed.

Our burglar succeeds because in his heart, he’s a crook.

You know, we need to get that little core of energy to make it work. But here’s another thing about the burglar.

Sometimes he makes horrible mistakes. Which results in him getting caught and being sent to prison. That’s his failure. Sent to prison.

OUTSTANDING SPEECHES

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Let me leave you with three thoughts.

First, cooperation can deliver. Over the course of the 20th century, we saw what can be accomplished when the global community pulls together, especially when the United States takes a leading role. Now is another moment for U.S. economic leadership.

Second, in a world riven by an infinity of interconnections, the ideal of cooperation is as urgent as when John F. Kennedy said, “Geography has made us neighbors, history has made us friends, economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies”. The time has come for the nations of the world to stand together again in the face of a major economic challenge, and with the U.S. as a lead partner.

Third, the IMF was founded more than half a century ago for precisely this purpose. We are here to serve our members—including the United States of America.

Support us. Use us. Work with us.

Thank you

Cooperation and Connectedness—an Address to the Associated Press by Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Washington, 3 April 2012

Good morning,

The economic outlook is glum. Life is serious. Naturally we all focus on jobs, revenue generation, economic growth. So now, more than ever, the public debate about the arts is focused on the bottom line. We talk endlessly about art in terms of regeneration, in terms of the creative economy, of return on investment.

And that’s right and proper. The instrumental value of the arts to wealth, to mental and physical health, to education, to social coherence, is real and enormously important. But today is about something else: today is about the extraordinary and essential role artists play in our society, their genius, their needs, their contribution to what matters in all our lives.

I’ve never met an artist who set out to work with their pen, paintbrush or piano with the sole aim of contributing to the creative economy. Artists work to explore, to crash through our received ideas, to show us personal and unique perspectives, to express anger, love, fear and awe.

Great art isn’t about economics. It’s about the ambiguity and restraint of Gerhard Richter’s September; the lyrical insight of James McCarthy’s 17 Days, the breath-stopping horror of Jacobi’s Lear, the exploration of personal landscapes of Akram Khan’s Desh, the restless looking of David Hockney, or Lucien Freud. These works, these artists, some exalted,

others setting out to develop their voices, tell us something about ourselves, about how we live and about what it is to be alive at this time.

And the tougher the economic climate, the more fearsome the threats to our ordered and tolerant society, the more important they are and the more art doesn’t just reflect society, but shape it too.

Speech by Liz Forgan, Chair Arts Council England, State of the Arts 2012 at The Lowry, Salford, 14 February 2012

It is a great honour to join my right hon. Friend the

Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and other colleagues in the House’s tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on the presentation of an Humble Address.

On the night of Monday 4 April 1955, on the eve of his resignation as Prime Minister, my kinsman Sir Winston Churchill gave a dinner at No. 10 Downing street for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. It was attended by Churchill’s closest political and military colleagues and friends, and by members of his private office and his family.

The Prime Minister, in proposing the Queen’s health, said this: “I propose a health to Your Majesty




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The Queen is a source of powerful influence for this country throughout the world, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said. She is the Queen of 16 countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the Head of the Commonwealth, an organisation that includes more than a quarter of the earth’s population. She thus brings a vital and often unrecognised addition to our efforts and our influence overseas. We in this House in particular should recognise this as an irreplaceable national asset of the first importance.

Every country needs someone who can represent the whole nation. It may seem primitive - and indeed it is - but if nationhood is to mean anything, it has to have a focus.

In our case, for 60 years that focus has been, and remains, the Queen.

Nations do have values, and they should be proud of them and willing to express that pride. That is what we are able to do with our monarchy and our Queen, and what we will do this year.

The Queen, blessed with a happy marriage to a remarkable consort who has done so much to support her does a job that demands tremendous physical and mental toughness and energy. Quite apart from her still extensive public engagements, her work follows her wherever she goes, and always has done. Her life has truly been one of selfless duty. Yet sadly, there is probably no day when she will not read something about her or her family in the media or see something on television that is untrue, cruel or just plain silly.

We are indeed blessed to have in the Queen someone who is truly a remarkable example of dedication, efficiency and common sense, with a tremendously good judgment of people and-last, but by no means least - an excellent sense of humour.

which I used to drink in the days when I was a young Officer in the 4th Hussars in the reign of Your Majesty’s great, great grandmother, Queen Victoria”.

He ended with the following words: “And I drink to the wise and kindly way of life of which Your Majesty is the young and gleaming champion”.

I am sure that this whole House will agree that Her Majesty the Queen has, throughout her long reign, indeed been a gleaming champion for her country and for the Commonwealth. Crowned in the same abbey church as William the Conqueror, at the same age – 26 - as the first Queen Elizabeth 400 years earlier, she embodies all the best qualities and the continuity that are so important to our country and its splendid, independent people.

This diamond jubilee will thus be an occasion for the nation to thank the Queen, who has served us so professionally, so loyally and so conscientiously through these extraordinary 60 years of some of the most tumultuous social, economic and technological change that Britain has ever seen.

The Queen brings to our national life an experience and knowledge of politics and events all around the world which is truly unrivalled by any other person in the land. Throughout her long reign, she has displayed great, good judgment, tolerance and absolute political neutrality at all times.

When she ascended to the throne, her first Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was of an age to have charged with the 21st Lancers at the battle of Omdurman in 1898, while her present Prime Minister was not even born in 1952. Such is the scale and breadth of the life that she has so triumphantly lived through.

Those attributes, added to a perfectly wondrous dislike of pomposity and vanity, and an absolute inability to pretend to be anything other than herself, make the Queen what she is: arguably the most respected and admired-indeed, loved-public figure in the world.

I conclude as I started, with Churchill on the Queen. Broadcasting to the nation on 7 February 1952, on the death of King George VI, he ended with these words: “I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian Era, may well feel a thrill in invoking, once more, the prayer and the Anthem ‘God Save the Queen’.” And, 60 years on, so do we all, Mr Speaker - with all our hearts.

Speech by Nicholas Soames, House of Commons, 7 March 2012

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,

I am most grateful for your Loyal Addresses and the generous words of the Lord Speaker and Mr Speaker.

This great institution has been at the heart of the country and the lives of our people throughout its history. As Parliamentarians, you share with your forebears a fundamental role in the laws and decisions of your own age.

Parliament has survived as an unshakeable cornerstone of our constitution and our way of life. History links monarchs and Parliament, a connecting thread from one period to the next.



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So, in an era when the regular, worthy rhythm of life is less eye-catching than doing something extraordinary, I am reassured that I am merely the second Sovereign to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.

As today, it was my privilege to address you during my Silver and Golden Jubilees. Many of you were present ten years ago and some of you will recall the occasion in 1977. Since my Accession, I have been a regular visitor to the Palace of Westminster and, at the last count, have had the pleasurable duty of treating with twelve Prime Ministers.

Over such a period, one can observe that the experience of venerable old age can be a mighty guide but not a prerequisite for success in public office. I am therefore very pleased to be addressing many younger Parliamentarians and also those bringing such a wide range of background and experience to your vital, national work.

During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure. Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide. He and I are very proud and grateful that The Prince of Wales and other members of our family are travelling on my behalf in this Diamond Jubilee year to visit all the Commonwealth Realms and a number of other Commonwealth countries.

These overseas tours are a reminder of our close affinity with the Commonwealth, encompassing about one-third of the world’s population. My own association with the Commonwealth has taught me that the most important contact between nations is usually contact between its peoples. An organisation dedicated to certain values, the

Commonwealth has flourished and grown by successfully promoting and protecting that contact.

At home, Prince Philip and I will be visiting towns and cities up and down the land. It is my sincere hope that the Diamond Jubilee will be an opportunity for people to come together in a spirit of neighbourliness and celebration of their own communities.

We also hope to celebrate the professional and voluntary service given by millions of people across the country who are working for the public good. They are a source of vital support to the welfare and wellbeing of others, often unseen or overlooked.

And as we reflect upon public service, let us again be mindful of the remarkable sacrifice and courage of our Armed Forces. Much may indeed have changed these past sixty years but the valour of those who risk their lives for the defence and freedom of us all remains undimmed.

The happy relationship I have enjoyed with Parliament has extended well beyond the more than three and a half thousand Bills I have signed into law. I am therefore very touched by the magnificent gift before me, generously subscribed by many of you. Should this beautiful window cause just a little extra colour to shine down upon this ancient place, I should gladly settle for that.

We are reminded here of our past, of the continuity of our national

story and the virtues of resilience, ingenuity and tolerance which created it. I have been privileged to witness some of that history and, with the support of my family, rededicate myself to the service of our great country and its people now and in the years to come.

The Queen’s address to both Houses of Parliament to mark her Diamond Jubilee, 20 March 2012

My name is Brian Jenner and I’ve brought a photograph

to show you today. It’s me, with the tool of my trade.

It cost me £600 and it stands in my study.

It’s a lectern.

When I finish writing a speech, I print it off, go to the lectern and read it out. The lectern doubles up as a desk and I can make amendments in the margin as I go along.

Woody Allen said that 90% of being a success was turning up.

I’d say that you’re 50% on the way to becoming a professional speechwriter if you read out every speech you write.



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conservative and those who are constantly preoccupied with the possibilities of new combinations.

I’m always puzzled by the number of people who accept reality as it is. My local councillors worry about pavements and parking.

When I moved down to Bournemouth in 2004, I thought I’d moved to a backwater for senior citizens. Then I realised the area’s potential.

If it linked up together with Poole and Christchurch, I see how it could become a great city like San Francisco on the South Coast.

It’s the job of the speechwriter, with a brooding and creative temperament, to manipulate the steady going, because we’re in the business of reconstructing the world with ideas.

The third skill you need is HUMORIST.

I studied French at university. One of my favourite quotations comes from the French writer Rabelais.

Mieux est de ris que de larmes escrire Pour ce que rire est le propre de l’homme.

It’s better to write laughs than tears because laughter is what being human is all about.

What’s the point of being boring? What’s the point of complaining?

If you want to persuade people to do something new, it helps if you can make them laugh.

The fourth skillset is PSYCHOTHERAPIST.

Speechwriting is a very intimate process. You’ve got to get under your client’s skin. When we speak in public we reveal a lot more about ourselves than we realise.

You’d be surprised how many people don’t.

I spend quite a lot of time searching for the text of speeches on the internet. They publish the ones made by corporate CEO’s in banks, international organisations and insurance companies.

You soon realise that no-one could possibly have tried to read them out before they’re delivered – they’re so verbose and dreary.

I had quite a struggle before I decided it was my vocation to become a speechwriter. We all have natural abilities. Things that come easily to us. Ideally we need a job that uses all our talents to the maximum.

I’ve given it careful thought and I’ve come to the conclusion that I play five different roles as a speechwriter. I wear five different masks.

The first is that of a JOURNALIST.

I trained as a journalist. I worked on The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph. The most important skill of a journalist is to be able to research a story. My clients don’t usually have the time to spend five hours looking deeply into a subject.

A newspaper has the resources to support a journalist.

I have reference books – and the equivalent of a cuttings library – a large collection of jokes and stories, which work well in speeches. It means experience counts for something.

Most jobs require a little bit of madness, and a speechwriter needs to be a FANTASIST.

The Italian sociologist Pareto said you could divide the world into two types, people who are routine, steady going, unimaginative and

When a best man wants to go to a wedding and tell obscene jokes. That tells you something about his psychological problems. I help him conceal them.

However, when a father of the bride says he hasn’t got a clue what to say, it’s my job to probe, and encourage him to express feelings that he may have been too shy to admit to, but will give great significance to the day.

Lastly, a speechwriter is a FUNAMBULIST.

For many the prospect of giving a speech is like a wire walk. It fills them with dread. The speechwriter has to walk their walk for them. We can’t deviate from the path they set.

One of my heroes is Philippe Petit, the French funambulist. He was inspired to begin his great project when he saw something in a magazine in the dentists in 1968 – a picture of the Twin Towers which were going to be built in New York.

Then he decided he was going to put a wire across the gap between the towers and do the tightrope walk.

The story of how he did it, which made a great book and film, epitomises for me how an idea becomes a vision and a vision a reality.

If you want an image to express how the speechwriter supports the speaker, we’re like the balancing pole to the wire walker. We’re there to add stability and improve co-ordination.

So I’m lucky. I don’t get to do just one job, I do five. Journalist, fantasist, humorist, psychotherapist and funambulist.

The Five Roles of a Speechwriter: Brian Jenner’s Icebreaker for Toastmasters International on Wednesday 11 April 2012

‘The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one.’ wrote Robert Benchley. ‘Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.’

Robert Benchley was an American humorist. He identified how procrastinators typically avoid one task by doing something else, and rarely do they sit there doing nothing at all. But there is a better way to exploit that tendency.

Raymond Chandler had his own system for churning out The Big Sleep

and other classic detective stories. ‘Me, I wait for inspiration,’ he said, but he did it methodically every morning.

He believed that a professional writer needed to set aside at least four hours for his job. ‘He doesn’t have to write, and if he doesn’t feel like it, he shouldn’t try. He can look out of the window or stand on his head or writhe on the floor, but he is not to do any other positive thing, not read, write letters, glance at magazines, or write cheques.’

The Negative Alternative Tool is a marvellously simple tool against procrastination for just about any

kind of task. Set aside time to do one thing and one thing only.

Chandler’s regimen was summarised thus: ‘Write or nothing. It’s the same principle as keeping order in a school. If you make the pupils behave, they will learn something just to keep from being bored. I find it works. Two very simple rules a) you don’t have to write b) you can’t do anything else. The rest comes of itself.’



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AN EXCERCISE IN WRITING DISCIPLINE

Extract from ‘Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength’ by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney, published by Allen Lane.

THE UK BUSINESS SPEAKER OF THE YEAR 2012

As connoisseurs of fine speeches, we can consume

as many as we like on YouTube, but it’s hard to beat the experience of listening to a brilliant speaker as part of a live audience.

In fact, the political system has lost much of its vitality because of the demise of the public meeting – the forum where top politicians could hone their lines and learn to pacify a hostile audience.

The UK Speechwriters’ Guild is doing its bit to promote a renaissance in public oratory by hosting the UK Business Speaker of the Year competition.

Southampton-based PEER 1 Hosting has offered £5,000 in prizes

to encourage the country’s leading business gurus to show off how they can inspire an audience to do great things.

Authors, academics, life coaches and entrepreneurs with a gift for public speaking are being urged to come up with ‘an inspirational business message for our times’.

The competition was piloted by the UK Speechwriters’ Guild in September 2011 and aims to draw attention to the power and impact great speakers can have.

Up to 24 finalists will be invited to Southampton on Thursday 27 September for auditions. The day will end with a ‘Grand Final’ in The Hub Theatre in Southampton,

hosted by Business Solent. The last eight will give their seven-minute presentations which will be evaluated by the judges.

The best will go through to the live audience vote and the audience will decide the ultimate winner of the competition.

The winner will receive £2,000 and get £1,500 of PR support from a top London agency to back their career as a professional speaker. Second prize will be £1,000 cash and the third prize £500 cash.

If you fancy your chances as Britain’s answer to Anthony Robbins, you need to send in a 60 second video audition together with a written pitch and a short profile by the 27 August 2012.

For more details go to: www.ukbusinessspeakers.co.uk



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EUROPEANSPEECHWRITERNETWORK

THE LAUNCH OF THE EUROPEAN SPEECHWRITER NETWORK

While many pan-European initiatives have to work hard to generate a spirit of co-operation, the speechwriters from different countries seem to strike up a spontaneous affinity with each other.

The European Speechwriter Network will bring together linguists and writers who practise the craft in many different languages.

Visit the website: www.europeanspeechwriters.org

When we launched the UK Speechwriters’ Guild in

2008, it was a surprise when the first member to sign up was Dutch.

While promoting the UK conferences we’ve discovered there is a German and a Dutch Speechwriters’ Guild. It’s turns out that the art of speechwriting in English is practised widely by non-native speakers. Many delegates have travelled across the Channel to listen to our experts speak and we have invited Dutch and Danish experts speak at our conferences.

To reflect this, we’re launching the European Speechwriter Network. One of our members, Roger Lakin, crafted this description for the website: ‘The European Speechwriter Network is a new global, multilingual, career-enhancing resource for a newly global, multilingual and mobile profession. It will be a place to sharpen your skills, promote your services and set professional standards.’

The Network will co-ordinate a speechwriter search service for businesses and political organisations, we’ll organise training seminars and offer specialist translation services.

Membership is €72 per annum. When you join you get a free copy of Max Atkinson’s book, Lend Me Your Ears, a subscription to The Speechwriter, the reading list and a checklist.

We hope this will be a stepping stone towards putting on conferences about speechwriting in European cities. We plan to host events in Strasbourg and The Hague in the next twelve months.

From now on The Speechwriter will be the newsletter for the

European Speechwriter Network and the UK Speechwriters’ Guild.

To mark this new development, we’re launching a new quarterly competition.

COULD YOU WIN A DEMOSTHENES PEBBLE?

The Demosthenes Pebble will be awarded to the best speech script in English delivered anywhere in Europe over the previous three months.

Members can enter one speech each quarter. The winning speech will be published in The Speechwriter. The winning writer will be sent a £25 Amazon token.

To take part in the first competition you need to submit your script by 31 July 2012 to [email protected].



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Sam Mort, a native of Scotland, lived in the Middle East for eight years as a speechwriter. She now writes speeches for Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, and lives in New York.

Can you remember the first speech you ever wrote?

Yes; and you’ve made me smile remembering. My boss attended a tribute to Sesame Street in which we honoured its creators for their role in educating children. You better believe that I milked those muppet metaphors and played with Sesame Street’s song lyrics; it was a fun one to write and a great way to start this career.

Who is your favorite author?

It’s so difficult to isolate just one. My all-time favourite is Emily Brontë; Wuthering Heights is a tour de force. But, recently, I’ve enjoyed Chris Cleave’s Little Bee; Michael Faber’s The Crimson Petal and the White; and Paul Torday’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about the relationship between speaker and speechwriter?

I’m a big believer in the better you know your boss, the better you can write a speech for him/her. It’s important to study how your boss talks and interacts with people and audiences; to study whose speeches he/she likes listening to and which authors/journalists are favourite reading; and to invest time in the brainstorm process… pick your boss’ brains about the direction and message of the speech.

I’d also say that, with experience, I’ve become better and bolder at advising on what works and what doesn’t in a speech. The happiest processes are when both speaker and speechwriter are listening to each other and thinking together.

Can speeches for international figures be compelling? Or is it mostly about elegantly avoiding gaffes?

Yes, of course they can and they must be compelling, especially because they’re delivered by world leaders. I think one of the best I’ve heard in recent years was Obama’s first foreign policy address in Cairo to the Muslim world. That certainly wasn’t an exercise in elegance or avoiding gaffes; he delivered several

key messages at an important time in East/West relations.

What’s the best TED talk you’ve seen?

Sir Ken Robinson talking about how schools destroy creativity. The man is a genius; original and clever and witty and confident and articulate. His ideas are fresh and bold, and I have learned a lot from watching and listening to him.

What advice would you give a graduate who wants to get into speechwriting?

Know that there’s no one way to do this job. Understand that to be successful, you must be flexible in your writing style and you must be resilient. Having people read your speech and give you feedback can be difficult at first, but it is an important way to improve.

Do you have a special format in which you present your speeches?

Times New Roman, size 14, 1.5 spacing; no cover sheet; page numbers.

What’s it like being a Brit in New York?

It’s got a lot better since I found Myers of Keswick – a fabulous British supermarket with all my favourite nibbles!

I think a better question is, “What’s it like being a Scot, who grew up in the Highlands, in New York?” The answer is: suffocating! Tiny apartments. Highrise buildings. I live to get out of Manhattan’s concrete jungle at the weekend, and walk through Central Park after work to get my fill of ‘green’.

SAM MORT PROFILE



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Of course, the range of restaurants and theatres and exhibitions is fantastic, but I like my mountains and my lochs…and that’s what I miss most.

How do you add life to formal speeches?

I try to give it them an interesting frame so that the heavy content is sandwiched in between a quirky factoid. Recently, in a speech on open defecation for UNICEF, I opened like this:

Forty years ago today, Apollo 16, commanded by John Young, landed on the moon. It was the fifth mission to land on the moon. By anyone’s standards, it was a triumph of science, engineering, and technology. If humankind could do that, what could we not do?

The answer, of course, is that we have not afforded 1.1 billion people, here on earth, their most basic rights: clean water and safe sanitation. I think that unlikely comparison is something that people will remember.

Avoiding jargon is also high on my list; I try to talk to the audience like they’re human beings no matter how technical the subject matter. And then there’s all the usual tips and tricks: select use of humour; use of the second person to engage the audience; a smattering of self-deprecation to endear the speaker to the audience; some audience participation, like a question; and contextualizing figures with concepts with which the audience is familiar.

You’ve been out of the UK for a long time – which public figures do you still look out for?

Working in communications and media means that I follow many public figures in many countries on a daily basis.

Because of my work in UNICEF, I’m currently focused on development issues, so I’m following people like the PM, David Cameron, and Andrew Mitchell for messaging on development aid. I’m interested in Princess Catherine’s development as a public speaker, especially on humanitarian issues. And I think Gordon Brown speaks very sincerely and with a lot of sense when he campaigns for education for all.

Have you ever made a conscious study of rhetoric?

Twenty years ago, at university it was part of my English degree but, to be honest, it’s not something I channel specifically nowadays. Writing today feels more organic. I like to think that rhetorical flurries are part and parcel of what I do!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given on speechwriting?

On my first day as a speechwriter, my boss said: ‘You never hear people leave an event saying, “that speech was too short.”’

THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF SPEECHWRITING

Following the success of their seminar on The Nuts and Bolts

of Speechwriting at the February UKSG conference in London, Martin Shovel and Martha Leyton will be running it again as part of the two-day conference ‘Do Speeches Still Matter?’ in Bournemouth on 20/21 September.

The seminar is for anyone involved in speechwriting who wants to brush up their skills, pick up new ideas and insights, and learn from one another. So whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned

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professional, you are very welcome to come along.

Piers Letcher – a senior speechwriter at the United Nations – attended the last seminar, and said of it: “The ‘Nuts And Bolts of Speechwriting’ seminar successfully covered a lot of ground in a short space of time, and provided both practical advice and handy tips. With good participant interaction and lots of helpful examples, this was an excellent workshop for speechwriters of any level – from beginners to experts looking to refresh their style. Highly recommended.”

Eshaan Akbar, who came to the seminar to help him get started on speechwriting, commented: “In just three hours, I picked up some of the most important lessons in speechwriting - the kinds people spend their entire careers trying to find!”

To find out more about what the seminar will cover and how to register, go to http://www.creativityworks.net or follow the links from http://speechesmatter.eventbrite.co.uk/ or email [email protected] for more information.

The Speechwriter is edited by Brian Jenner

The Speechwriter May 2012

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Transcript of The Speechwriter May 2012