The day Madeleine Albright learned the language of humor, in public speaking
I am deeply saddened by the loss of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. I am proud to say that a speech I wrote for her in 1993 — the …
Why didn’t the great Indian speechwriter write a memoir? Two reasons.
By any measure, H.Y. Sharada Prasad had an impressive run as a speechwriter, working closely with three of his native India’s post-independence prime ministers. As one would expect, his years as a …
The General’s Rhetorical Grunt
Like many Americans I was saddened to learn of the passing of Gen. Colin Powell on Monday. In my case, the sadness was personal because I was the General’s speechwriter …
Pullman, Debs and Zuckerberg: History for Communicators
Last week here, I wrote about how the word “unprecedented” was banned at a meeting I attended at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. That’s a hard rule to …
From “Oratorical Inflation” … to Rhetorical Recession?
Intrepid Vital Speeches rhetoric editor Neil Hrab unearthed a great speechwriting-industry time capsule, written by New York Times’ reporter Don Oberdorfer and published on Sunday, April 26, 1964—surely to the stifled consternation of …
Are you a rhetorician, or a word-wielding goon? This young man wants to know
Reading a Fox News piece last week headlined “Biden’s Afghanistan speech written poorly with even worse delivery, experts say,” I was taken back to a formative moment very early in my career. I …
Domestic Abuse: Words Are Not for Throwing
“We don’t hit, we don’t bite, and we don’t throw things.” Those are the first rules any parent teaches any child. And then the parents put the kids to bed, …
“I Put the Words on Paper and He Took Them to Another Level”
When I accepted the job as AFL-CIO Director of Speechwriting, my coworkers at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union sent me off with a toast: “To the voice …
Euphemism, for Good and Ill
In my book An Effort to Understand, I tell the story of how I once told my five-year-old daughter that in our family, we don’t say passed away—we say died. …
“Textual Deviates”
Last week I was writing a column on speechwriters’ behalf for a magazine for CEOs. (Oh yes, I’ll share that when it comes out.) I was at pains to explain …