A Year of Ambiguity: What Direction Will We Choose?
Madam Clerk, Whip Clark, distinguished Members of the House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to finally be able to welcome …
How to Produce a Best-in-Class Briefing Document
This is the first edition of a monthly column we’re calling “Standard Practice.” Written by veteran executive communication director Kari Matalone, this is an attempt to broadly share some basic …
House Democrats and Republicans, in High Fidelity
The Democratic and Republican parties presented a meaningful contrast at the delayed start of the 118th Congress. The Democrats voted unanimously for Hakeem Jeffries as the next Speaker; the Republicans …
Speechwriter: These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For
Everybody’s talking about Chat GPT. “I’m currently experimenting with AI composition,” a retired speechwriter emailed me on Christmas Eve. “Frighteningly good. Something that will need to be taken into account …
Run With Me
When I decided to run for mayor, even though I’ve spent nearly all my life here, I wanted to get to know our city even better, especially after all the …
Your Support Is Crucial
Thank you so much. Thank you so much for that. Thank you. It’s too much for me. All this for our great people. Thank you so much. Dear Americans, in …
In 2022: What CEOs Said, and How They Sounded
This generation of corporate CEOs issues more provocative commentary on a broader array of public issues in a year than their predecessors mumbled in a century. Search the decades of …
The PSA is almost 10—and taking stock
At the first World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association almost 10 years ago, I led members in a kind of caucus, asking them what they wanted the fledgling group …
In the Absence of Solutions, at Least the Right Questions
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, dear members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of Ukraine and citizens of the world. This year, the entire Ukrainian nation was waiting for the …
Helter Skelter, in Corporate Communication
When I started covering corporate communications as a baby trade journalist back in the early 1990s, here is what my colleagues and I considered big stories: • An editor of …