To speak, or not to speak?
Mar 28, 2022
You could sense the desperation in the speechwriter’s email: “I’ve been tasked with developing rough guidelines to use when evaluating incoming speaking requests. In your travels, have you come across …
Looking at Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine From a Military Perspective Alone
May 11, 2022
Good morning, and can I just thank the Deputy Director General of the National Army Museum Mike O’Connor for hosting us here today in the National Army Museum. I’m sorry …
Three Categories for the Songs I Write
Sep 28, 2022
Well hi. I want to say thank you to [Bart Herbison, the NSAI’s executive director] for introducing me in such a generous way and I want to say thank you …
Yes, the world needs one more book on rhetoric
Nov 09, 2022
I don’t like books on rhetoric, generally. There are too damned many of them, for one thing. University of Richmond rhetoric prof Jerry Tarver donated his collection of “Elocution, Rhetoric …
A Year of Ambiguity: What Direction Will We Choose?
Jan 11, 2023
Madam Clerk, Whip Clark, distinguished Members of the House Democratic Caucus and the House Republican Conference, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to finally be able to welcome …
Exit Interview: Outgoing CEO Tries to Explain His Stance on Stances
Feb 10, 2023
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 …
Speechwriters Are Serious Readers, Still
Jul 25, 2023
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 …
My Electric Speechwriter, and Me
Aug 17, 2023
Prologue, Post-Dated, August 24, 2023 I wrote the piece below before I spoke with the Dutch founders of the speechwriting app Verble, Devin van den Berg and Victor Straatman. In …
This Is a Time to Build Trust
Jan 17, 2024
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear Klaus, your annual Global Risk report makes for a stunning and sobering read. For the global business community, the top concern for the next two …
Workmanlike, for the Win
Apr 19, 2024
This week, a couple of meditations on writing that works—and how it’s not always the sexiest prose that wins the day. —DM *** When Workmanlike Is Better Than Exquisite My …