After Six Years, a Few More Chairs at Our Table (But Only a Few)
This week a colleague sent me a picture of the last moments before the Executive Communication Council first convened, at the Hermosa Inn, near Phoenix, Ariz. This was the room …
The Rise and Fall (and Survival) of an Exec Comms ‘Meaning Junkie’
No one is more dangerous to a company than an enthusiastic executive communication professional who has changed her mind. Luckily for companies, most exec comms pros don’t. Unluckily for Google …
Leadership Lessons of My Own
“I’m just a dumb writer,” was something I heard my writer dad say a lot. And I think he meant it. He ran his own advertising agency for a time, …
From Government Speechwriter to School Bus Driver
Quite some time ago, 72 weeks ago, to be precise, I left my job as a speechwriter in the federal government as part of the DOGE cuts. It was work …
In a Veteran Speechwriter’s Hard-Wrought Work, Claude Finds Dozens of AI ‘Tells’
From a veteran speechwriter correspondent, who has been part of an ongoing discussion around the Professional Speechwriters Association, about AI. The PSA’s AI guru Brent Kerrigan had sent around an …
Your Midnight Memo, to the CEO
At a recent gathering of exec comms directors, participants were asked to write a “midnight memo” to their CEO, to be read aloud before the group, in secret. As soon …
Whither the ‘Remote Speechwriter’
The Lorax spoke for the trees. I speak for the speechwriters. So I hate to side with anyone who refuses to hire one, for any reason. But a speechwriter wrote …
Exec Comms in the Era of ‘Because I Said So’
The through line from Marc Andreessen’s introspection-is-for-losers hot take to Donald Trump’s Easter Sunday greeting — “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards” — would be shocking if it wasn’t so predictable. …
What Kind of a Question Is That?
This week The New York Times published a piece headlined, “CEOs Are the Heads of Companies. Should They Also Be the Face?” What’s your gut reaction to that question? As …
This Is What Civic Communication Looks Like
One of the best parts of participating in the City Club is being witness to moments of real, authentic civic work. There are moments at forums where you feel a …