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Speechwriting

Notable, quotable State of the Union speech lines that Lincoln wrote (but never spoke)

Speakers and speechwriters can learn a few tricks by tuning in to the President’s annual State of the Union speech Tuesday. Important speeches like these often deliver up colorful, memorable – often historic – lines and can inspire us to do the same whenever we write and give a speech. Abraham Lincoln is widely considered […]

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Let’s get personal

Want to engage your audience right upfront? Try sharing a little piece of yourself. That’s what I did last night as emcee of the Woman of Distinction Awards Reception-Dayton for Girl Scouts of Western Ohio. The event at Dayton’s Schuster Center celebrated the legacy of Girl Scouting by honoring six exceptional women in the Dayton region who […]

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More on “Keep it Sticky!” (How to Make Your Next Speech the Talk of the Town)

I was thrilled to share six ways to make speeches “sticky” with 80 attendees at the Women in Business Networking Lunch ‘N’ Learn Tuesday. (Translation: A sticky speech has the power to help people hear, understand and remember – so it has the power to help people change the world.) Here’s a bonus example I didn’t […]

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Client speech delivered by Barbara Hayde at the University of Dayton wins a prestigious Cicero Speechwriting Award

Today I am excited to announce that one of my speeches has won a top Cicero Speechwriting Award. “Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Go It Alone” – prepared for and delivered by Barbara Hayde of The Entrepreneurs Center on April 9, 2013, at the University of Dayton – won in the Leadership and Management category. Cicero called […]

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Reduce, reuse, recycle? Not always

Someone asked me the other day whether they could give the exact same keynote address written for one audience – a college community – to a completely different audience of high-powered business executives. I hesitated. After all, a speech with examples, stories, statistics and anecdotes that resonate with the college crowd won’t touch the hearts and […]

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‘To infinity … and beyond!’

“Real Entrepreneurs Don’t Go It Alone” – a keynote address written in April for a Dayton-area client – drew upon a local historical event to anchor the opening and closing remarks. One entrepreneur attending the event rushed up afterward, greeted the speaker and said, “You made me feel like an astronaut!” Here are two excerpts […]

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Stuck on how to craft some clever opening lines for your next speech?

Try making it personal. Start with a story. This is how I engaged my audience last week with a speech about speech giving — tips on how to “woo, win and wow!! your next audience”: I’ll never forget the advice I got decades ago from one of my crusty old journalism professors during my first newspaper […]

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Two excerpts from an award-winning speech

“First Things First: Together We Can Make an Impact on Education,” a client speech written last year, won a national Award of Excellence in the APEX 2012 Awards for Publication Excellence competition in category 101: Speech & Script Writing. Here are the opening and closing remarks. EXCERPT (SPEECH OPENING) Let me tell you a true […]

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A quote is a terrible thing to twist

What were they thinking? Change a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most revered activists, writers and orators of the 20th century? The deed is done, but many are calling for it to be undone. Here’s what chiselers of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington inscribed on the north […]

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Some good advice for speechwriters

Want to write more speeches for existing clients? Want to get new speechwriting clients? Serendipity is only part of it, according to Sandra Yin, a writer based in Maryland and a colleague of mine. Sandra recently interviewed me and four other speechwriters from across the United States and in the United Kingdom about how to break into […]

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