University speechwriter comes out of closet!

At the World Conference, I lamented along with a speechwriter to a university president that universities are the last society of the truly closeted speechwriter, partly because university presidents feel they might be mocked by academics or others for requiring a pen for hire.

So I was pleased when I got home to run across a story in Ohio University’s student paper, The Post, headlined, “University speechwriter helps Jenny Hall-Jones bring her speeches to life.”

The speechwriter, Becca Lachman, is careful to emphasize collaboration between her and President Hall-Jones. To create a recent commencement speech, Lachman told the paper, “We brainstormed about what she wanted to stress to her audience and how she could take all that she wanted to share and carve it down to be a powerful, 20-minute speech. I took notes, gave Jenny a few trusty writing prompts to encourage the writing process, and asked open-ended, guiding questions in our meetings.”

And how did the university community react? 0 Comments

Well-played, Lachman. May similarly sane university speechwriter profiles proliferate. —DM