Vital Speeches editor covers Obama speech, gonzo style
On my personal blog, I wrote about how I took in the president’s speech tonight on healthcare reform. I didn’t have time to think or analyze, which may be the …
What to listen for in President Obama’s speech tonight
George Stephanopoulos is looking for five things in the president’s speech tonight: 1. What we learned. 2. What’s new. 3. What worked. 4. What didn’t. 5. What’s next. Sounds about …
‘I thought YOU were going to write the speech …’
Vital Speeches‘ Hong Kong correspondent Lorne Christensen alerts us to a story in the Hong Kong Standard that tells the true terrifying tale of every speaker’s—and every speechwriter’s—worst nightmare. It …
Speechwriters, don’t lie down on a bed that’s already on fire
Check out this speechwriting-help-wanted Craigslist ad: I need to give a speech and need someone to help me come up with an outline. I am NOT looking for someone to …
And speaking of ‘reason’ ….
… an interesting piece on Politico.com on how former President Bush speechwriter David “Axis of Evil” Frum is struggling to build a following on his new blog, newmajority. ““If you …
Obama, Kennedy and ‘the neurology of reason’
Speechwriters on either side of the aisle, it seems to me, should have David Shenk’s back as he calls in The Atlantic Online for logic, reason and rationality in political …
‘Every man to his post’
On Aug. 27 a year-long exhibition of Churchill’s underground cabinet war rooms opened in London. Among the displays is the transcript of Churchill famous “9/11” speech from Sept. 11, 1940, …
‘The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die’
This is the best version of Ted Kennedy’s 1980 Democratic Convention speech that I could find on YouTube. Can anyone find a better one to post on the Vital Speeches …
A speechwriter’s departing words
The speechwriter to Victoria, Australia premier John Brumby is leaving for greener pastures, and he writes a long farewell that concludes with these wise lines: Governments—unlike the timeless eternity of …
Lincoln and Douglas: Still trading blows
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas held the first of their seven famous debates on on August 21, 1858, at Washington Square, Ottawa, Ill. During a visit to Ottawa last weekend, …