In the news: Zumwald featured on Chuck Chats, an internal communications blog

ENGLEWOOD, Ohio, Jan. 14, 2019 – “The Art of Corporate Speechwriting” was the focus of a blog chat between Zumwald & Company CEO Teresa Zumwald and Chuck Gose, the host of “Chuck Chats,” an internal communications blog.

The chat was a Q&A with Zumwald, an award-winning speechwriter, speech coach and B2B storyteller.

Gose, the founder and host of ICology, a podcast and resource for internal communicators, asked Zumwald what the intent of a speaker should be.

“No matter what you are speaking about, you have two goals: to get the audience to change the way they think or the way they behave,” Zumwald said. “Because otherwise, why are you wasting your breath? You could simply give them an article to read.

“It’s your job to do one or both of those two things. And if you can change someone’s behavior with a speech, you have accomplished a lot.”

A format for speech coaching 

Gose asked Zumwald how communicators can coach managers and leaders to be better speakers and storytellers. Zumwald shared her process.

“When I work with an executive, we start with a finished speech that is ready for rehearsals,” she said. “They must practice it on their own, and only then is it time for coaching.

“During the first run-through, I take notes and we review them together. No one usually tells an executive where he or she is struggling when delivering a talk, so a coaching practice like this is helpful.

“Then we break down the separate parts of the speech that need work, and I help the executive learn how those lines were intended to be delivered. After we run through those parts, the executive always does better.”

Zumwald then asks the executive to spend more time on individual rehearsals to work on techniques practiced during the coaching session.

“When we meet again, we repeat the process,” she said. “The confidence the executive gains after this is incredible.”

Zumwald says coaching sessions help get speakers excited about delivering a talk instead of dreading it – “or putting it off until the very last moment.”

Read the rest of the blog chat here.