Workaday White House Speechwriter vs. Credit-Hogging Dilettante Historian
My old man used to say to his self-conscious teenagers, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what people thought of you if you realized how seldom they do.” That came …
She Scared the Hell Out of Me (and Made Me Better)
My former boss died February 18, after battling an aggressive cancer for less than a year. She was brilliant and dedicated and selfless, and had terrifyingly high standards. I respected …
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Speechwriting Process
Four weeks ago, snow was in the forecast again for Boston. But by the time Mayor Michelle Wu took the stage at MGM Music Hall, the unconvincing afternoon flurries had …
Exit Interview: Outgoing CEO Tries to Explain His Stance on Stances
Last week Axios published a simplistic piece—(surprise!)—titled, “America’s CEOs Have Gone Silent on National Tragedies.” Leaning hard on a comparison between CEOs’ vocal reaction to George Floyd and the relative corporate …
‘Rhetorical Perspective,’ and the Future of Speechwriting
If the feverish talk about ChatGPT and other IA composition tools leave speechwriters in grinding dread for their livelihood, the Professional Speechwriters Association offers some strong anti-anxiety medication: a new …
How to Out-Write ChatGPT
Plenty of writers see ChatGPT as a threat because of its ability to generate readable content in a matter of minutes. For my part, I prefer to view it as a …
Jacinda Ardern Showed Us How Leaders Should Communicate Now
Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation as New Zealand Prime Minister Wednesday, and she’ll be as sorely missed by the leadership communication community as by her supporters in New Zealand and admirers …
The PSA is almost 10—and taking stock
At the first World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association almost 10 years ago, I led members in a kind of caucus, asking them what they wanted the fledgling group …
Helter Skelter, in Corporate Communication
When I started covering corporate communications as a baby trade journalist back in the early 1990s, here is what my colleagues and I considered big stories: • An editor of …
Burned Out, and Wanting to Talk About It
When I sat down in a conference room in San Francisco to listen to a presentation on executive communications, I wasn’t expecting to take it … so personally. As researcher …