A Year Filled with the Loss of Life and the Loss of Living
Good evening, my fallow Americans. Tonight, I’d like to talk to you about where we are as we mark one year since everything stopped because of this pandemic. A year …
A party foul, to say the least
There’s an unwritten tradition that the previous president doesn’t criticize the sitting president. There’s an unnecessary tradition that the previous president’s speechwriters don’t critique the sitting president’s scribes. Unnecessary, because it always …
Booster Shot
President Joseph R. Biden, Address to the Nation, Washington DC March 11, 2021. Joe Biden made appealing for national unity look easy in his first prime-time presidential address. He sought …
On International Women’s Day … meet the generals
Thank you, Madam Vice President, and thank you, Mr. Secretary. On Friday, I submitted to the Senate for confirmation my first slate of nominations for four-star command positions in our …
Meet “the anti-speechwriter,” profiled in Forbes
A Tuesday ForbesWomen profile opened with some classic straw-man rhetoric, whether or not its subject knows that rhetorical term by its name. “There are a lot of speechwriters out there, and they will …
Not Fade Away: A Speech Analysis
Editor’s Note: Rather than reproducing Former President Trump’s Sunday CPAC speech (see transcript here)—we’re running this “Rhetorical Recap” analysis by our resident speech analyst Michael Cornfield, associate professor of political …
Communicators, our book is out!
An Effort to Understand is available for immediate purchase—on Amazon, or anywhere you buy your books—in print, in Kindle and as an audiobook, narrated by me. Communicators will love it, …
Corporate speechwriting, then and now
By the time he wrote his novel, Chronicles of Doodah, George Lee Walker was one disillusioned speechwriter. Having worked for Michigan Governors George Romney and William Milliken, President Gerald Ford, Ford …
Bringing China-U.S. Relations Back to the Right Track
Distinguished Guests, Friends, Good morning and good evening. During the Chinese Spring Festival season, visionary people from China and the United States are gathering at Lanting to discuss the future …
Responsible, but not impeachable
Jan. 6th was a disgrace. American citizens attacked their own government. They used terrorism to try to stop a specific piece of democratic business they did not like. Fellow Americans …