Six steps to solid speech editing
Jan 03, 2012
First, let the draft rest. Then edit for content, organization, style, language and grammar—in that order!
Why do you write?
Jan 18, 2011
Lewis Lapham writes to keep his wits about him. Why, ultimately, do you?
Why I gave up freelance freedom to return to the corporate grind (Part One of Two)
Jul 12, 2011
“My writing was less passionate, personal and powerful than I wanted it to be,” says Cynthia Starks. “I missed being proud to tell people where I worked, like I was at IBM.”
The Speechwriting Life: “Writing Is Work”
Sep 18, 2014
Over a 28 year career as a speechwriter, Peter Quinn wrote for two New York Governors and five successive Chairmen of Time Inc./Time Warner/AOL Time Warner. Today, Quinn is a …
The Speechwriter’s Life: How to succeed where other scribes fail
Nov 19, 2014
If you want to write speeches for elected officials, is there a single career path that you must follow? Hardly. Take as an example the varied experiences that Jill Severn …
The Speechwriter’s Life: Scott Farris
Feb 23, 2015
“Every speech should have an idea, and tell a story,” says Scott Farris, a speechwriter, communications advisor and author based in Portland, Oregon. “The longest-running method of communication between people …
The Ace of the Doles
Nov 22, 2015
Ask Kerry Tymchuk what he enjoys most about being a speechwriter, and he has a clear, confident answer—“It’s when you see a speech work and succeed the way it was …
The Big Hug
Jul 28, 2016
The line-up for Wednesday suggested that Democrats intended to devote this night to expanding the electoral coalition beyond strong Democratic women and those who love them. Joe Biden would address …
Meet the speechwriters!
Aug 04, 2016
This column originally appeared in The Strategist, the member magazine of the Public Relations Society of America, where Vital Speeches editor David Murray has a regular column on leadership communication. …
Shimon Peres, remembered by his onetime speechwriter
Oct 06, 2016
Onetime Shimon Peres speechwriter tells about the time he met the Israeli president and wrote a U.N. General Assembly speech for him on the same night. “’Mi atah?’ he asked …