Speech Tip: Control Your Language (About the PETA Meme) Language is power. I’m not the first to say it. I better not be the last. Control the language and control the people. Politicians know this, as do activist groups, cults, and dictators. That’s one reason speechwriters are hired by the most influential people and organizations […]
Speech Tip: Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! (Speeches Aren’t Safe) Speeches aren’t safe. To the contrary. Speakers have been killed because of how afraid others were/are of their message. Free Speech This isn’t a free speech post. Free speech, as I see it, is the legal unencumbrance of what we can say and where. True free […]
Speech Tip: Eulogizing President Bush The eulogy for President George Bush is loaded with challenges. I wrote similar things when John McCain died. Eulogies about public figures such as President Bush, 41, are hard for several reasons. Death is always personal, but the death of a president is always public. How do we reconcile that? […]
Speech Tip: Inspiration Means Asking Someone To Do a Hard Thing If doing whatever you are asking your audience to do was easy, your inspirational dinner speech would be a breeze. Inspiration is hard. “Say, you know, I was thinking. You know that scholarship fund for poor international kids I mentioned in that letter last […]
Speech Tip: Don’t Tell Me a Story (Unless It Matters) When you are giving a speech, you are being graced with the attention of as many people as are listening. You’ve heard “tell a story, tell a story” as some sort of speech givers mantra. That’s not the point of your speech. Your job isn’t […]
Speech Tip: Avoid PowerPoint Jeff Bezos doesn’t like PowerPoint in presentations. Neither do I. Why not? They distract the audience and the speaker. It is as simple as that. That’s not even getting into the design question — so many aren’t done well. Too many words, too complex of a message (charts that are more […]
Those of you who follow me on LinkedIn know that I’m emphasizing public speaking. The quick gist is below, but for the full shebang, please check out my public speaking page Public Speaking: Keynotes, Workshops, Breakout Sessions * Clarity of Message. How to speak efficiently. * Confidence Building. Your audience wants to hear from you. […]
As Sears Holdings Corporation, owner of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I think of how they impacted the world. They invented department stores as we know it. Everything Amazon is, everything Alibaba Group is, Sears already was. Years ago, mentions of them might’ve filled inspirational speeches because of […]
Speech Tip: Politics as Unusual: Love, Not Hate in Political Speeches Politics. Can’t live with ’em. Can’t… I just can’t. I will write speeches for good people who want good things who are willing to say it all in a good way. There are two major ways to write a political speech. Ask most people, […]