Speechwriting: The fine art of not putting words in other people’s mouths



My favourite politician and

good friend Colin Hansen,

who taught me how to get

people on their feet.

I sorta kinda hate to do this but... if this is a site where I post things I publish, then it shouldn't matter if it's actually fascinating reading or... well... not so fascinating reading. Right? 

This is an article I wrote for Ragged Right which is a publication of the International Association of Business Communicators. On speechwriting. It isn't that it's bad, it's just that... you know... when you're given a topic and so many words, there's only so much you can do.

Anyway, published it was, so blogged it is. And for those who actually wish I'd write something original soon, rest assured I'm working on it!
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A month after writing my first political speech, I was asked to transcribe the audio for a website. I was halfway through the first page when I realized there was no similarity between what I had written and what the Minister said. In fact, at one point he paused and mentioned someone had written a speech for him - but it wasn’t very good. At the next event I unwittingly stomped all over protocol by marching up to the Minister and asking him why he didn’t like the speeches we were sending him. The answer? No one had ever asked him what he wanted to talk about.