Boris, he won’t
July 31, 2019
Johnson may be a political scoundrel, but he's also a rhetorical raconteur, qualified to keynote a speechwriters conference.
We keep hearing that Boris Johnson is the United Kindgomโs version of Donald Trump. Why do they get the rhetorically sophisticated one?
Even if the new prime ministerโs political agenda is as messed up as his mopโprofessionalย speechwriters will inevitably beย charmed (if not intimidated)ย by this rhetorical raconteur. Writes the emcee of an event where Johnson was supposed to speak:
It was an awards ceremony at the Hilton, Park Lane. The room was packed with financial people in bow ties. โฆ Right now [Johnson] was due to make a funny speech.
In four minutes.
There I was, at 9:26pm, sitting with a table-load of London bankers, trying to answer their questions. โWill Boris actually arrive?โ โIs he normally this late?โ โHas he got lost?โ
I answered them all as best I could:
(a) Iโm sorry
(b) I donโt know
(c) I donโt see Boris Johnson that oftenโฆ SuddenlyโBOOM. A rush of wind from an opened door, a golden mop, a heave of body and dinner jacket onto the chair next to mine, and the breathless question, at 9:28pm: โJEREMY. Where exactly AM I?โ
Do not fail to read the storyย of how Johnson brought the house down with a speech that seemed hilariously chaotic but was actually entirely canned. (Thanks to PSA member and star Chicago speechwriter Elizabeth Austin for the steer.)
And if you think Johnsonโs self-save was a fluke, think again. The dude could keynote a speechwriters conference. Here, his rhetorical erudition reduces his interlocutor to helpless giggles.
Iโm quite sure Iโm politicallly opposed to Boris Johnson. But Iโm rhetorically smitten, God help me.ย โDM