Speechwriting

In certain speeches, sometimes it’s important to the message to share a few facts and figures, numbers and statistics. Here’s my question for public speakers: Do you take the time to connect the dots? A colleague of mine in the Professional Speechwriters Association, Carlos Razo, has a Ph.D. in economics. As special assistant and adviser […]

Every industry has a language that only insiders understand. But what if you’re presenting to a diverse group of people who don’t live and breathe the words you use every day? I once heard a logistics expert give an overview presentation to a roomful of business people – from attorneys, bankers, accountants and consultants, to […]

In a recent post on 10 big mistakes public speakers make on stage, I said it was important to work hard on a blockbuster ending that answers three questions:  In the end, what do you want your audience to remember? How do you want them to feel about what you said? And why does it matter? You can […]

Do you need a speechwriting 101 process that helps you decide early on – with confidence – what you want and need to say? A chief executive I’m working with on speeches, speech coaching and executive communications forwarded this email to me a couple weeks ago. It was a speaking invitation from another executive on […]

One of the most common mistakes public speakers make happens more times than I can count. Speakers make assumptions. A speaker assumes everyone in the audience is familiar with a particular news item, movie, song, play, sports hero, sports team — fill in the blank — and makes a very specific reference in the speech […]

When you deliver a speech or presentation, everyone knows the first thing you say matters. But do you want to know the truth? The last thing you say matters even more.   Think about how you ended a recent speech.  Did you leave the audience feeling satisfied? Attracted to your Big Idea? Ready to act […]

When you’re preparing an important speech or keynote presentation, do you tend to default to one of these four opening lines? You begin with a long line of thank-you’s to people we may or may not know. You tell a joke you found online the night before. You share the process you used to prepare […]

Worried whether your speech has the power to connect with listeners from very different backgrounds and levels of experience? Jump-start your thinking with these seven steps based on a Cicero Speechwriting Award-winning keynote that resonated with 250 men and women from age 18 to 80.   When Barbara Hayde — former president of The Entrepreneurs […]

Your audience will thank you if you skirt the predictable – and instead give them something to think about or act upon after the evening is over. For many executives, receiving an award is a good news, bad news thing. First, the good news: “Congratulations! You’ve won an award for your outstanding achievements!” (And now […]

Think about the last time you delivered a Big Hairy Audacious Presentation to your management team, customers, prospects or peers. How did your prep go? Were you awash in so much awesome material – that you had to clamor like crazy for focus? What did you leave in? (But more important: What did you leave […]