The Art and Practice of Speechcraft

Just a few remarks about writing a speech, as I am in the middle of one right now.

Regardless of the subject matter or the audience, there are a few steps that I take.

1. Ideas - just throw out ideas about what the speech could be about, based on the audience and your goal.

2. Research - do some research on the subject matter so you are informed enough to understand the issue.

3. Outline - once you've decided on a few main ideas, start to draft an outline: the intro, what the main points will be, and the conclusion.

4. Extemporaneous writing - drink coffee, close the door, and focus on writing. Write as much as you can of the speech, word-for-word. Don't stop to look up facts or do more research, just highlight the questionable parts so you can come back to them. You want to just stay in a writing groove. Make sure you do this during your most productive time of the day. For me, it's early morning.

5. Take a break! Get up and clear your head.

6. Research - check the facts you were unclear of when you were writing.

7. Re-read and make changes - Go through the entire speech and make any necessary changes in text or location.

8. Run-through #1 - Rehearse the speech outload - you don't need to memorize it, you just want to get a feeling for how the speech sounds out loud, and whether or not there is a logical flow of ideas.

9. Make any necessary changes...

10. Take a break! Clear your head.

11. Run-through #2 and make necessary changes. Speak it out loud!

12. If possible, sleep on it. Wait until your next productive time of the day to continue.

13. Start to outline. Yes, after expanding your speech from an outline, you want to re-condense it into more specific outlines. Ideally, when actually giving the speech, you should have an outline in front of you instead of words.

14. Run-through #3 with the outline in front of you, not the speech. Adjust changes as necessary.

15. Sleep on it again. Wait for productive time.

16. Final run-through (#4+) with outline. Try it without the outline, but have the outline handy.

I strongly encourage clients to write out their speech word for word when crafting it. This allows you to precisely ensure you stay on message and within the time limits. It also allows you to be more eloquent.

However, I strongly discourage clients to read from the speech when actually giving it. The audience can always tell when you are reading from your notes, and it breaks your level of eye contact with them. Just have the outline in front of you to job your memory.

These steps to writing a speech are relevant regardless of the audience, goal, or occasion. They all boil down to:

PREPARATION

which leads to

CONFIDENCE

Your perceived authority in your subject matter comes from confidence. Your audience can tell.

Happy speechwriting!

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things

Beginnings are always filled with grand expectations, but sometimes they start out as large blanks that you wait to fill in. You know you'll fill them in with something wonderful, but they start out blank just the same.

Starting this new job, I am filled with a renewed sense of purpose. I see the possibilities and opportunities, and I literally cannot wait to see who I will become as a result.

What will I look like as a professional in 5 years? What will I have accomplished? I have absolutely no idea, but I know it will be of enormous significance.

Once when I was in Cyprus, I had an amazing dream. I came home to find that my messy suitcase had been packed and was ready to go. Someone said to me "It's the official luggage packers. They pack your bags to prepare you for an important mission."

Actually the dream was in Italian, so the luggage packers were "I Preparavaligiatori del Presidente."

Ma comunque, I remember this dream because it filled me with a sense of purpose, as if some goal I have been reaching for had finally been achieved, as if I had arrived at some long-awaited destination.

Although I firmly believe in self-empowerment, that we have the ability to change our lives and improve ourselves for the better, no matter what, there is still some comfort to the idea that good things are meant to happen.

Who will you become in the next 5 years?

The crocuses are out!

Growing up in Connecticut, you always know when winter is coming to an end: when you start to see yellow and purple crocus flowers coming out.

Seeing the leaves sticking out of the ground is the first step, but seeing the actual flowers is a sure sign of the coming spring!

Yesterday, I took this picture of crocuses. Ironically, when we saw them Yoav and I were carrying our laundry bag, which was filled with my snowboarding clothes. Have I used them for the last time this year?