Today I'm pleased to bring you a guest post on a subject I haven't covered on My Writing Blog before: speechwriting.
The article is by professional speechwriter and consultant David Meadvin, president of Washington, DC-based Inkwell Strategies.
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We often hear from people who say that they always considered themselves to be good writers until they sat down to write a speech.
It's not that speechwriting is a dark or mysterious art; rather, writing words to be spoken rather than read is a skill that most people rarely have a chance to practice.
The fact is - words that sound great on paper often fall flat when delivered. As professional speechwriters, we're trained to write for the spoken word. Fortunately, though, many of the same tricks of the trade that we use every day can help you write a clear, effective speech - whether it's for a Fortune 500 CEO or a local PTA meeting.
Keep your words, sentences and paragraphs short
Read a professionally-written speech. Then read a newspaper article. The biggest difference you'll see is that the speech contains shorter words and simpler sentence structures. This doesn't mean a speech is dumbed-down; the challenge to a good speech is expressing big ideas with small words.
The same goes for paragraphs. Writers are often hesitant to break up a paragraph in the middle of a thought. That's why paragraphs in books and essays sometimes go on for half a page or even more. Try reading a half-page of solid text - it doesn't flow naturally. Build your speech's pacing and cadence into the text by breaking up your paragraphs. This will slow down the speaker and help the audience follow along. Paragraph breaks also give the speaker a chance to pause and make eye contact.
Ignore Grammar
Sticking to strict grammar rules can result in a speech that sounds overly stilted and formal. If starting an occasional sentence with a conjunction or using slang here or there allows the speaker to sound more natural, go with it. Write what sounds right and understandable to you - even if Microsoft Word underlines your words in green squiggly lines. However, avoid informal language and sentence structure just for the sake of folksiness. Ultimately, the language you use has to work for the individual speaker.
Don't be Afraid to Get Messy
Most professional speakers will start with a pristine printed draft, and then mark it up beyond recognition. Since the printed version of the speech will never be a public document, don't hesitate to add in your own notes on emphasis and pausing. Any given set of words can be read an infinite number of ways - it's up to you to make sure yours are delivered the best way possible. Just make sure the notes are legible at the podium - nothing is worse than a speaker struggling to understand his or her own text!
Write foe-NET-ick-lee
When a speaker has a difficult-to-pronounce name or term coming up in the speech, if you look closely, you can often see them tense up in anticipation. Just as nobody will ever see your scribbles in the margins, no-one will be the wiser if you spell these words out in your text.
Unlike most other forms of writing, speechwriting has very few formal rules. As long as the speaker sounds good, the speechwriter has done his or her job.
Here's the bottom line: KISS (Keep It Simple, Speechwriter).
Byline: Inkwell Strategies is a professional speechwriting, executive communications and message development firm based in Washington, DC. David Meadvin (pictured, right) is former chief speechwriter for the U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senate Majority Leader.
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Thank you to David for an interesting and eye-opening article. Although I don't write speeches myself (unless someone wants to hire me, of course!) I do sometimes write audio scripts (e.g. for Think Yourself Lucky) and the same general principles apply here, I think.
If you have any comments or questions for David, as always, please feel free to leave them below.
Main photo by Joshua Davis Photography on Flickr. Reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution-ShareAlike Licence. Photo of David Meadvin provided by the author himself.
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