A good speech has a voice.\u00a0 It sounds like an individual\u2014specifically, the individual who is delivering the speech. It should not sound like the speechwriter.<\/p>\n

And yet us speechwriters<\/a><\/strong> are often given only a brief time with the speaker to determine what she wants to say.\u00a0 From that brief meeting, we are expected to extract the message she wants to impart, and the sound, tone, texture, and rhythm of her verbal personality.<\/p>\n

So, if you are a speaker, and you are working with a speechwriter<\/a><\/strong> in New Jersey or New York, (or anywhere else for that matter) how can you maximize the few minutes you have with your speechwriter<\/strong><\/a>?<\/p>\n

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• Be prepared for the meeting with the speechwriter.\u00a0 Know the DNA of what you want to say.\u00a0 You can come up with this DNA by imagining that an audience member is considering coming to hear you, and asks, \u201cWhat\u2019s your speech about?\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ve got less than 30 seconds to tell her.\u00a0 What do you say?\u00a0 Your answer should be one sentence long, and should contain the benefit that the listener will derive.\u00a0 For instance, President Obama<\/strong> might have said about his speech on race relations<\/strong>, \u201c My speech urges every American to have the difficult conversations about race so that our country can move beyond the historical divisions that have plagued our nation.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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  • Next, in order to help your speechwriter (and yourself), figure out the question to which your information is the answer.\u00a0 At the heart of what you will say is the information that you have mastered and your own interpretation of its meaning.\u00a0 But you can\u2019t just dump the info on your listeners.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to figure out <\/strong>what emotional concern drives their interest in your topic<\/strong>.\u00a0 What question would the audience have to have in mind in order to make that information a fascinating, provocative question?\u00a0 Believe it or not, you have to spend about a third of your speech asking the \u00a0\u00a0 question\u2014even more if they are not that familiar with the topic or the issues.\u00a0 For instance, when trying to raise new rounds of venture capital, a biotech president might have to answer the question, \u201cWhy do we have to spend millions of dollars creating a new formulation for the molecule when it already demonstrates efficacy in its current formulation?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    • Finally, give your speechwriter plenty of time to ask questions.\u00a0 Encourage him\/her to get to know you.\u00a0 Take her out to lunch.\u00a0 Have a glass of wine with him.\u00a0 He or she needs to soak up who you are, what you care about, how you think, what you like and dislike, and your personal verbal style.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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      Only by inviting your speechwriter into your inner circle will you get what you want and need\u2014a speech<\/strong><\/a> that captures not only what you want to say, but how you want to say it.<\/p>\n

      
      \n<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      A good speech has a voice.\u00a0 It sounds like an individual\u2014specifically, the individual who is delivering the speech. It should not sound like the speechwriter. And yet us speechwriters are often given only a brief time with the speaker to determine what she wants to say.\u00a0 From that brief meeting, we are expected to extract… Read More »Your speechwriter: How to get the most out of him<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[603,18,297,291,88,337,905,30,612,904],"yoast_head":"\n