Boe’s Work Is Our Work Now
Well, Boe Workman is retiring this Friday, after a career that began with rhetoric scholarship, continued with political work and self-employment, and concluded with a short stint as the head …
Impossible to Describe: A Letter Home, from the Leadership Communication Academy
What is executive communication precisely, and what all do you need to know to be great at it? Exactly a half-decade since the founding of the Executive Communication Council—and at the beginning of …
Ex-USAID Speechwriter Focuses on Future
Clarification: The following article refers to Kristina Drye as having been “laid off” from USAID, which some might interpret as implying she was technically an employee of the U.S. government. …
A Certificate Course, in Executive Communication? I Almost Can’t Believe It Myself
I’ve long been skeptical of professional accreditation. Always thought the now-moribund “ABC” designation from the International Association of Business Communicators stood for, Average Business Communicator. Always thought a truly talented …
The Upside of a Tribe
Last week professional speechwriters for government officials, university presidents, corporate CEOs and nonprofit heads from around the world flocked together to find the intellectual means, the moral strength and the …
Asked and Answered: Questions Leaders Ought to Have About Exec Comms
Several years ago, it occurred to leaders of the Professional Speechwriters Association that speechwriters’ clients didn’t necessarily understand what a successful collaboration looks like between speaker and speechwriter. So we …
No, Speeches Don’t Write Themselves …
When I see a “behind the scenes” story about the making of a speech, I groan. As head of the Professional Speechwriters Association, I realize it’s my job to read …
Speechwriters Are Serious Readers, Still
The emphasis in leadership communications the last decade or so has been on strategic thinking, not writerly erudition. So I was pleased to see last week when an email group …
Come.
Many speechwriters who have come to rely on the Professional Speechwriters Association as a sturdy, steady source of professional development, advocacy and global networking would be surprised to know that …
This Is Why We Created the Executive Communication Awards
It wasn’t long ago, when “executive communications” mostly meant helping leaders say the things they were expected to say, on the appointed day, in the usual way. Today’s exec comms …