Hay Festival : 15 Speeches That Changed the World

The second Festival Foundation Gala event at the 2019 Hay Festival celebrated the power of persuasion and words. From calls to arms to demands for peace, this performance captured the voices of prophets and politicians, rebels and tyrants, soldiers and statesman.

The selection of speeches was inspired by Simon Sebag Montefiore’s “new book” [sic] – presumably a revision of his 2007 book, which will be “published in October”. And by the two Penguin speeches anthologies edited by Brian MacArthur: Modern Speeches and Historic Speeches.

As with any selection, there are some speeches that might have changed the world, others, maybe not so much. For anyone who would like to see the speeches read by top-notch actors from the stage at Hay, I recommend the £10.00 annual subscription to the Hay Player.

Queen Elizabeth I: Addressing the Troops

Elizabeth IWhen Queen Elizabeth I visited her troops on the eve of the attack of the Spanish Armada, her authority emanated from the fact that she was Queen.

I know I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England, too; and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realms: to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.

Greta Thunberg: Our Lives are in Your Hands

Greta ThunbergThe 16-year-old Swedish activist was the clear favorite at Hay. Her speeches are collected in No One is Too Small to Make a Difference. She is known for having initiated the school strike for climate movement that formed in November 2018. In March 2019, three members of the Norwegian parliament nominated Thunberg for the Nobel Peace Prize. In May 2019, she featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Her speech given at a protest outside Swedish Parliament was the first of three featured from the stage at Hay.

If people knew this they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m so “passionate about climate change.” If people knew that the scientists say that we have a five percent chance of meeting the Paris target, and if people knew what a nightmare scenario we will face if we don’t keep global warming below 2 °C, they wouldn’t need to ask me why I’m on school strike outside parliament. Because if everyone knew how serious the situation is and how little is actually being done, everyone would come and sit down beside us.

Colonel Tim Collins: Addressing the Troops

Col Tim CollinsColonel Tim Collins, OBE, is a retired Northern Irish military officer in the British Army. He is best known for his role in the Iraq War in 2003, and his inspirational eve-of-battle speech, a copy of which apparently hung in the White House’s Oval Office.

We go to Iraq to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them. There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

Dolores Ibárruri: They Shall Not Pass!

Dolores IbárruriThis Republican heroine of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and a communist politician of Basque origin is known for her famous slogan ¡No Pasarán! (“They shall not pass”). This was a battle cry appeal for the defense of the Second Spanish Republic.

The Communist Party calls you to arms. We especially call upon you, workers, farmers, intellectuals to assume your positions in the fight to finally smash the enemies of the Republic and of the popular liberties. Long live the Popular Front! Long live the union of all anti-fascists! Long live the Republic of the people! The Fascists shall not pass! THEY SHALL NOT PASS!

Nelson Mandala: Inaugural Speech

Nelson MandalaNelson Mandela was South Africa’s first black chief executive. His inauguration took place in Pretoria on 10 May 1994, televised to a billion viewers globally. The event was attended by four thousand guests, including world leaders from a wide range of geographic and ideological backgrounds.

We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.

Malala Yousafzai: Address to the United Nations

Malala YousafzaiThis Pakistani activist for female education is the youngest ever Nobel Prize laureate. Her address to the United Nations was given as part of her campaign to ensure free compulsory education for every child. She marked her 16th birthday by delivering the speech at the UN headquarters in New York.

So here I stand…one girl among many. I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights: Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Oliver Cromwell: In the Name of God, Go!

Oliver CromwellCromwell delivered this speech when he dismissed the “Rump Parliament” on 20 April 1653. It was noticeable that, on 1 June 2019, the Hay audience reacted with wry amusement to a speech introduced as “seeming to say so much of what we all feel”. Ironic that a country embroiled in a divisive Brexit debate broke into laughter time and again as the dictator’s words echoed down the centuries.

The relevance of the speech was thrown into stark relief when, within the month, two candidates for the job as Prime Minister, Dominic Raab and Esther McVey, proposed proroguing (i.e. dismissing) parliament so that MPs are unable to block a no-deal Brexit. Were a new Cromwell to take the stage in modern Britain one can only hope the outcome is less bloody than the last time.

Or the audience members might not find it so amusing.

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defiled this sacred place, and turned the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance. Your country therefore calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable, by putting a final period to your iniquitous proceedings in this House; and which by God’s help, and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do. I command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart immediately out of this place. Go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves be gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

Aneurin Bevan: Resignation speech

Aneurin BevanNye Bevan, was a Welsh Labour Party politician who was the Minister for Health in the UK from 1945 to 1951. He was one of the chief spokesmen for the Labour Party’s left wing, and of left-wing British thought generally. His most famous accomplishment came when, as Minister of Health, he spearheaded the establishment of the National Health Service (NHS), which was to provide medical care free at point-of-need to all Britons, regardless of wealth. On 23 April 1951 he delivered a rousing resignation speech over planned cuts to the NHS budget.

After all, the National Health Service was something of which we were all very proud, and even the Opposition were beginning to be proud of it. It only had to last a few more years to become a part of our traditions, and then the traditionalists would have claimed the credit for all of it. Why should we throw it away? In the Chancellor’s Speech there was not one word of commendation for the Health Service—not one word. What is responsible for that?

It’s notable that the extract read at Hay ended before Bevan’s conclusion:

I say this, in conclusion. There is only one hope for mankind—and that is democratic Socialism. There is only one party in Great Britain which can do it—and that is the Labour Party. But I ask them carefully to consider how far they are polluting the stream. We have gone a long way—a very long way—against great difficulties. Do not let us change direction now. Let us make it clear, quite clear, to the rest of the world that we stand where we stood, that we are not going to allow ourselves to be diverted from our path by the exigencies of the immediate situation. We shall do what is necessary to defend ourselves—defend ourselves by arms, and not only with arms but with the spiritual resources of our people.

Perhaps, unlike in the case of Cromwell, these words are too partisan in British politics today. Safer to laugh at the rants of a dictator speaking 300 years before Bevan.

Bobby Kennedy: Measuring America

Bobby KennedyIn a speech delivered at the University of Kansas on 18 March 1968, Bobby Kennedy took aim at materialist America. Twelve short weeks later a gunman took aim at him.

Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product – if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman’s rifle and Speck’s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

Greta Thunberg: Whatever it Takes

The second of the three speeches chosen is also available on YouTube, delivered by Greta on a cold day in Sweden:

As Billy Bragg remarked on the previous day at Hay “We erect statues to suffragettes, some day we’ll erect statues to climate change activists.”

Aung San Suu Kyi: The Causes of Fear

Aung San Suu KyiThe controversial Burmese leader has drawn criticism over her alleged inaction to the persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakhine State and refusal to accept that Myanmar’s military has committed massacres. This speech (delivered in absentia) on the occasion of being awarded the Sakharov Prize For Freedom of Thought in 1990 — a time when her reputation was still intact.

Just as chanda-gati, when not the result of sheer avarice, can be caused by fear of want or fear of losing the goodwill of those one loves, so fear of being surpassed, humiliated or injured in some way can provide the impetus for ill will. And it would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to pursue the truth unfettered by fear. With so close a relationship between fear and corruption it is little wonder that in any society where fear is rife corruption in all forms becomes deeply entrenched.

John Ball: Cast off the Yoke of Bondage

John BallThis a radical priest took a prominent part in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 against the 14-year-old King Richard II. Needless to say, it did not end well for the peasants. As historian Barbara Tuchman has noted, the conflicts of that distant mirror of the calamitous 14th century usually ended with peasants “swinging from trees”.

It’s curious that the extract read at Hay omitted the most famous quote from the speech: When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman?

From the beginning all men by nature were created alike, and our bondage or servitude came in by the unjust oppression of naughty men. For if God would have had any bondsmen from the beginning, he would have appointed who would have had any bond and who free.

Greta Thumberg: Speaking to the British Parliament

A third and final speech by the young activist was delivered to Parliament in April of this year:

You lied to us. You gave us false hope. You told us that the future was something to look forward to. And the saddest thing is that most children are not even aware of the fate that awaits us. We will not understand it until it’s too late. And yet we are the lucky ones. Those who will be affected the hardest are already suffering the consequences. But their voices are not heard.

Harvey Milk: The Hope Speech

Harvey MilkThe first openly gay elected official in California gave a rousing speech at the June 1978 California Gay Freedom Day in San Francisco. Before the year was over his life was ended by an embittered Dan White, who shot him and Mayor George Moscone in City Hall with his police-issued revolver. Ah, those Second Amendment rights…

And the young gay people in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias and the Richmond, Minnesotas who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant on television and her story. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great. Hope that all will be all right. Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us’es, the us’es will give up. And if you help elect to the central committee and other offices, more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.

Earl Spencer: Princess Diana Eulogy

Charles SpencerDiana’s brother delivered a controversial eulogy that was reported to have caused a rift in the royal family. In paying tribute to his sister, the 9th Earl Spencer reportedly angered the Queen with lines like “Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic” and “I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned.”

OK, fair enough. But is this really a speech that “changed the world”? Apparently so, according to the organizers of this event at Hay.

There is no doubt that she was looking for a new direction in her life at this time. She talked endlessly of getting away from England, mainly because of the treatment that she received at the hands of the newspapers. I don’t think she ever understood why her genuinely good intentions were sneered at by the media, why there appeared to be a permanent quest on their behalf to bring her down. It is baffling. My own and only explanation is that genuine goodness is threatening to those at the opposite end of the moral spectrum. It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this — a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.

Guest Posting: Flying Lessons, First Hand by Rod Thorn

Rod ThornThis is the keynote address by Rod Thorn, Communication Executive, PepsiCo that was delivered at the Ragan Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. on March 10, 2015. Reprinted here with his express permission. It is an amazingly honest and forthright assessment of what is like, on a professional and emotional level, to work with CEOs. I found every word rang true to my own experience as a speechwriter and recommend everyone who is an adviser to executives read it. Follow Rod on Twitter @Rodthorn.

I want to take you on a journey today. The journey of a dirt poor kid who started his life in a trailer, then became a trusted advisor to CEOs, flying all over the world in corporate jets.

This is my story.

And while I may not quote Alexis de Tocqueville, I WILL tell a tale of democracy in America.

To begin, I ask you to travel back in time with me about 45 years, and step into the trailer I grew up in. It’s a used New Moon Hallmark; 10 feet wide, by 40 feet long. It’s on a dirt road, way out in the country, in upstate New York.

My father and mother are very poor. They’re not blue collar. They’re no collar. And somehow they cobble together enough money to buy this trailer. Not a double-wide, mind you, but a 10-wide. A double-wide is for rich people who are showing off. And if you have a house, well, then you’re royalty.

One day, two neighbor boys, three and four years older than me, knock on our door. I’m home alone, which is often the case. The boys tell me to follow them because they have something very important to tell me. They are bigger and older than me so I do as I am told.

When we enter their house they say, “Pay attention, because we’re going to teach you seven of the most important words you’ll ever know. After we say what they are you need to practice ‘em so you’ll never forget ‘em. Got it?”

I nod yes, and I am wide-eyed with anticipation. They have a HOUSE. They are OLDER than me. And they are giving me ADVICE. This is my entry into the big boy club!

And that’s when they tell me the seven words that got the comedian George Carlin arrested and thrown in jail for public indecency. The boys don’t tell me these are DIRTY words, only that they are IMPORTANT words. I’m not going to say what these words are, despite the fact that I seem to have grown so fond of them. But I can tell you this . . . one of them sounds an awful lot like you were taking your mother to the hamburger chain, Fuddruckers.

Anyway, I run back to the trailer, saying the words over and over.

I get a piece of paper and a pencil, and I write out the seven words. My tongue is sticking out of my mouth. I’m really concentrating. I’ve got to get these words right.

My mother comes home. She says, “Whatcha’ doin’, honey?”

I say, “The boys across the road taught me some words so I’m practicing them.”

She says, “Oh, that’s nice. What words?” And she looks over my shoulder.

The next thing I know my very angry mother marches me back across the road.

She knocks on the door. The mother answers. The boys are peeking out from behind her. My mother says, “Your boys just taught my son these words!” And she angrily thrusts the paper I was writing on at the mother, who takes the paper, looks at it, and says to her sons, “Did you teach him these words?” They say no, they don’t know what he’s talking about, pointing at me. Their mother shoves the paper back at my mother and, using a couple of the seven words her sons taught me, says, “Your boy’s nothin’ but a no-good liar” and slams the door in our face.

Back at the trailer, my mother tells me these are very bad words. I am never to use them, and I should forget I ever heard them. She’s not mad at me, she says, and I didn’t do anything wrong. She’s just . . . concerned.

Many years later she told me that in that moment, she realized how big of a hill life was going to be for me, and that she had no idea where to begin to help me make the climb.

She only had a seventh grade education. She was one of eight children. She grew up poor, and then it got worse when she married my father. But she was determined to use whatever she could get her hands on to teach herself. And what she could get her hands on was books.

So here’s what she does: She pulls out a dictionary, and we begin a daily lesson that will last for many years to come. We read the dictionary together. Every day, pick a word, use it in a sentence. Recite its meaning. Pass it back to my mother, who does the same. And we constantly play Scrabble.

In my entire life—despite getting a degree in Rhetoric and Communications from a very good school, becoming a playwright and author and corporate executive—I only beat her at Scrabble once. And that’s because she let me.

But on that day, she says we won’t always have to live this way. We won’t always be surrounded by, “drunks and druggies and hoodlums and lying, good-for-nothing, violent people. People you can’t trust as far as you can throw them.”

What she says next is not as much advice as it is a commandment: “Words have the power to hurt and to heal. If you want to live a life that matters, and become a person that people can TRUST, you will use your words as a force for good.”

I’ve been trying to do just that, and make my mama proud, ever since.

***

Now, let’s leave that trailer and fast forward—to my first ride on a corporate jet. If you’ve ever flown on one and then had to go back to flying commercial it’s like dying and going to Heaven, and then having to reenter your body on the operating table.

This is truly rare air.

A limo picks me up, takes me directly to the plane. Someone takes my luggage, I walk up the stairs. The pilot and co-pilot greet me at the door. A flight attendant, who doubles as the flight engineer, shows me around the plane. I try to act like I’ve been there before.

I am surrounded by power and influence. There’s polished wood and fine leather. There are lamps. There’s an antique rug. There’s a conference table, big enough for Thanksgiving dinner. There’s a bedroom with a shower. There’s a private office. There’s a kitchen. There are huge televisions with every channel and movie you’d ever want to watch. This is bigger and nicer than the trailer I grew up in. The people are so polite. And it has much better food.

My CEO motions for me to sit across from him. I’ve worked for the company for a while. But I’ve never been on the plane with him.

There are several other executives on the plane. And they seem to me a little smug, and a little suspicious of my presence. I’m an outsider. I’m a newcomer. And I’m not in the inner circle.

After some small talk we take off, and my CEO tells me we will make a sharp ascent because the pilot used to fly fighter jets and he likes to get to 41,000 feet as quickly as possible.

I nod as if I already know that.

After the flight attendant brings drinks and a snack for us my CEO leans forward, looks out the window, and says, “You know, when you take this job the bullet that gets you has already been fired. The only question is how long will it take to reach you?”

I am floored. I don’t need any help breaking out in a flop sweat. And now a sniper’s going to take me out!?

Next, I hear him saying words and sentences but they’re all gauzy and muffled, like one of the parents in a Peanuts cartoon saying, “Whah, whah, whah, whah, whah, whah.”

Then he says: “And that’s why I need someone I can trust to advise me. Not just to write for me. I can get anybody to do that. I need someone to be my second brain. An extension of me. A strategic thinker AND a tactician. Someone who will tell me the truth. Someone who has my best interest in mind, AND the best interest of the company.” And then, finally, he says: “Someone who can keep that bullet from reaching me.”

Bang. This flashes into my head: “The bullet’s going to hit HIM, not me! This is AWESOME!”

So I’m relieved. But at the same time, I’m confused. He’s the CEO. And he’s worried about who is going to take HIM out?

I lean back in my seat. I flip open my laptop. And I act like what just happened is no big deal. But it is a VERY big deal. It’s so big . . . I cannot concentrate on a single thing.

Because, my fellow speechwriters, I’d finally reached my destination. I was using my words as a force for good. And I was becoming a trusted advisor.

Before I go on I’d like to say something that is very hard for me to admit. Back on that corporate jet, staring into my laptop, there was a very big part of me that does not believe I belonged in such rare air. In fact, I feel it right now.

There is a voice inside of me—sometimes very loud and persistent—that says, “Who do you think you are to give advice? What makes you think what you have to say is important to anyone? You’re a fraud, you’ve somehow tricked these fine people into thinking that you are somebody, and one day they will all find out that you’re faking it. Then, you’ll be back in that trailer, right where you belong.”

That voice is the thing that makes me sweat with anxiety when I’m up here. That makes me short of breath. That makes my voice quiver with fear. That makes me almost quit—every single time—when I’m writing a play or a book or a speech.

You see, despite the facts—I am a communications executive at a 67 billion dollar company; I have written for and advised dozens of CEOs and hundreds more senior executives at Fortune 100 companies; I am a member of the Paley Media Council, the Professional Speechwriter’s Association, and the Dramatist’s Guild; I have written several books and had more than 25 productions of my plays; I have spoken at Dartmouth and Columbia and other universities; I have a degree from a fine university, where I also played football and baseball, and was even the lead singer in a band—I can be insecure and wonder why CEOs let me write speeches for them or consider me to be their trusted advisor.

In my mind, CEOs are different than me—by CEO I mean anyone who is in charge of an entire organization where they are the sole, accountable individual.

In my mind, CEOs grow up wealthy, with big houses, new cars, country club memberships, private schools, and European vacations. They go to Harvard and Yale and have MBAs and degrees in economics. They know what fork to use. They know what to wear for different occasions. They drink wine, not beer. They say EYE-ther and NEY-ther instead of EE-ther and NEE-ther. And they live UPSTAIRS at Downton Abbey, not downstairs.

In reality, CEOs are HUMANS just like anyone else. They have many of the same insecurities and voices in their heads. They might not admit it in public, but in private—in moments I’ve had with so many of them in board rooms, in green rooms, and on those company jets—they share many of the same things I’m saying here.

And I know it’s not just my experience.

I was reading the Harvard Business Review the other day and I saw an article called, What CEOs Are Afraid Of. It was by a consultant in the UK named Roger Jones, who had surveyed and interviewed 116 CEOs. In the article, Jones states, “Deep-seated fears — of looking ridiculous, losing social status, speaking up, and much, much more — saddle children in the middle school lunchroom, adults on the therapist’s couch, and even, my research has found, executives in the C-Suite. While few executives talk about them, deep and uncontrolled private fears can spur defensive behaviors that undermine how they and their colleagues set and execute company strategy.”

While I feel bad for these CEOs, this was a confirmation of what I’ve been experiencing with CEOs throughout my career.

What’s more, what Jones found about executives’ fears and their impact in the boardroom was revealing, and in some cases astonishing. For instance, the biggest fear among CEOs was being found to be incompetent, also known as the “imposter syndrome.” This fear diminishes their confidence and undermines relationships with other executives. Their other most common fears, in descending order, are underachieving, which can sometimes make them take bad risks to overcompensate; appearing too vulnerable; being politically attacked by colleagues, which causes them to be mistrustful and overcautious; and appearing foolish, which limits their ability to speak up or have honest conversations. About 60 percent said those first three fears affected behaviors on their executive team, although 95 percent said that executive team members had a very limited view of their own fears. About two-thirds believed they had “some” self-awareness.

The five top fears resulted in these dysfunctional behaviors: a lack of honest conversations, too much political game playing, silo thinking, lack of ownership and follow-through, and tolerating bad behaviors.

When they were asked to think about the fallout from those dysfunctional behaviors, the executives mentioned more than 500 consequences. Those mentioned most frequently were poor decision-making, focusing on survival rather than growth, inducing bad behavior at the next level down, and failing to act unless there’s a crisis.

Makes you wonder why anyone in their right mind would want the job, right? Or why anyone in their right mind would want to be their trusted advisor!

But it’s not all fear and loathing in the corner office. CEOs also get to see people grow and reach their potential. They get to see teams come together and accomplish great things. They get to influence their customers’ success. They get to go to their employees’ most important family events. They get to watch their teams let their hair down, and begin to trust each other. They get to feel the satisfaction when the company reaches a milestone. Most importantly, they get to help build something in this life that might just change the world.

Still, given all of the fears and insecurities that CEOs have to deal with, is it any wonder they need someone they can trust?

That’s why people like us are so important to them. Because we provide far more than JUST Words.

Let’s go back in time again. I’m about 17 years old. Getting ready to go to college.

Remember the two knuckleheads who taught me the seven dirty words? They’re not going anywhere, and they’re getting in even worse trouble. As my “trusted advisors” they’ve been replaced by my Uncle George. A man who, despite growing up with even less than I had, despite having no education to speak of, despite being in and out of juvenile detention homes, becomes a very successful business executive. Not a CEO, but pretty close.

One day he visits us and gives me some advice about working, and about life, that has served me well in working with CEOs. Instead of seven dirty words, he gives me seven things I need to be. If you’re looking for the best advice I can give on how to be a trusted advisor, this is it.

Number one, be versatile. Or as my Uncle George said, “Be ready for anything.”

Think about all of the people CEOs encounter in the course of their work: Employees, customers, shareholders, the media, the investment community, partners, foreign and domestic governments, NGOs, community groups, activists, and competitors.

Whoever they are dealing with, CEOs know that everyone wants something from them. They want funding for their project. They want to be hired. They want to be promoted. They want a deal. They want a greater return on their investment. They want a story. They want to call themselves strategic partners. They want tax revenue. They want regulations. They want donations and volunteers. They want to use your name—on books, in articles, videos, speeches, on buildings, in parks, on legislation, you name it.

Everyone wants a piece of the CEO. They WANT, they WANT, they WANT.

So to be a trusted advisor, YOU have to play many roles. Besides writing speeches, op-eds, briefs, videos, letters and more, at any given time you are a lawyer, diplomat, bodyguard, confidante, salesperson, psychologist, nurse, lobbyist, researcher, media expert, spokesperson, and strategist.

And you are the only person who isn’t trying to get something from your CEO.

So to be a trusted advisor, you need to be versatile. And ready for anything.

Number two, be humble. Or as Uncle George said, “Lose the ego, Bub.”

Today on the train ride down here I wrote a letter to a Boy Scout, and a brief for an economic summit in Europe. Next week I may stay in a five-star hotel, and then shine my CEO’s shoes. And that’s just fine with me.

At one company I worked for the chief marketing officer blatantly used the company to promote himself and his career. He gave speeches everywhere. Wrote a book, well, HE didn’t write it. This guy made horrible marketing deals that cost MILLIONS of dollars the company could not afford. He made deals that got him on network television with Donald Trump. And he loved to get his picture taken with porn stars. And through it all, he somehow convinced this very smart CEO that it was all for the good of the company.

This, as you might expect, did not end well. Because let me tell you something—the last thing a CEO needs is someone who wants the limelight more than they do.

So to be a trusted advisor, you need to be humble. And lose the ego, Bub.

Number three, be flexible. Or as Uncle George said, “Be willing to do what others won’t . . . or can’t.”

About 15 years ago I worked for the CEO of a major technology company. One day I was told to drop whatever I was doing and handle a crisis. This kind of thing happens all the time. But in this case, the crisis was all day, every day, for nine months. Of course I couldn’t drop everything else to solely deal with this crisis. But it certainly became my priority.

I can’t give too many details. But here’s what happened: A disgruntled genius and former chief information officer of a major utility was using my company’s information systems and technology to essentially hold the utility hostage. Unless his demands were met, he said he would initiate phony work orders on the utility’s nuclear facilities and cause meltdowns in major metropolitan areas.

It’s like a James Bond movie, right?

Since this guy designed the entire IT structure of the utility he knew how to make good on his threat. And from time to time he would prove it. Then stop short of actually going through with it.

Every day I had to talk with the FBI. With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. With my general counsel. And of course, every day I had to brief my CEO. I also had to go to secret meetings with the utility company’s CEO, and HER trusted advisor, who in this case, was her general counsel. This is while beefy security guys stood by the door wearing sunglasses and talking into their wrists. It was a bit unnerving. But it was part of the job.

So . . . to be a trusted advisor, you need to be very flexible. And be willing to do what others won’t, or can’t.

Number four, be curious. Or as Uncle George said, “Ask questions. Poke your nose where it doesn’t belong. Keep learning.”

For example, a few years ago I wrote a book for a CEO who invented, among other things, motorized wheelchairs, motorized lifts and ramps on buses and vans, and hand controls for driving. He had a very successful company—out in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana—that he created out of necessity. At the age of six he was told he wouldn’t live to be 13 due to Muscular Dystrophy. This was back in the 1950s. If you couldn’t walk you were hidden away. Kept out of sight due to some kind of misplaced shame.

To make a long story short, he created an entire industry because he refused to hidden away. He didn’t live to be 13. He lived to be 74. And had several grandchildren. Today, thousands, if not millions, of disabled men and women have the freedom of mobility because of him. And because of his work with wounded warriors, military jets fly over his house and wave their wings at him in respect.

I wouldn’t have known any of that if I hadn’t spent a summer living on his alpaca ranch in Indiana, over his barn full of mating alpacas, digging into this man’s history, and having some very uncomfortable personal conversations—at least they were uncomfortable for me.

So to be a trusted advisor, you need to be curious. And poke your nose where it doesn’t belong.

Number five, be strategic. Or as Uncle George said, “Think about how everything affects everything else.”

At one point in my career I was working for a huge and well-known company that was trying to make a comeback from a corporate near-death experience. Among its many challenges, the company’s culture was badly in need of an overhaul. In particular, its salesforce was set in its ways and being outsold by far lesser companies. My CEO asked me to put on my thinking cap and figure out what I could do to address this situation. No speech would do. No email. No video.

So I created a brainstorming event that brought the company’s top 500 salespeople in from all over the world for three days. I made them take off their shoes. Draw with crayons. Play with blocks. Eat granola bars. You name it. I even banned white shirts, and ties. And these were people with billion-dollar quotas so pulling them out of the field was a HUGE deal.

To get backing for it I pitched the CEO and her senior leadership team. About 10 people. All middle-aged men. When I was done with my pitch the CEO asked her senior leaders what they thought. She was non-committal. Didn’t give them any indication of what she thought. To a person, they openly said how stupid the idea was, how it was doomed to fail, and how I had wasted their time. I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

After a silence that seemed to last forever, my CEO said, “Well, I think it might work. We need open minds and new thinking. Especially in this room. And this doesn’t just change the way we sell. It affects everything we do—from research and development, to customer insights, to manufacturing . . . everything.”

One by one every executive in the room then quickly said, “You know I think you’re right! It just might work!” Inside my head I used most of the seven dirty words. But on the outside, I smiled, said thank you very much, and then got the hell out of Dodge.

So . . . to be a trusted advisor, you need to be strategic.

Number six, be thorough. Or as Uncle George said, “Pay attention to the little things. Leave no stone unturned.”

At one company my CEO told me to think about what we could do to combat a very influential and vocal critic of our business. This critic was a best-selling author, Harvard professor, and very well-known public speaker. We at least needed to get him to stop bashing us so much in the press, in his books, in speeches, and in his classes. Everywhere he had a platform. Our hope was to educate him enough about our business so he could be neutralized.

I researched everything about him. Read all his books and articles. Watched his speeches. Pored over everything he said in the press. I even figured out who was influencing HIM, and started courting THEM. I sent emails. I called. I visited. I got him together with my CEO for private briefings. I brought him to a product launch. I even brought him to my company to speak to our employees, most of whom DESPISED him for what he had been saying.

It turned out that he was criticizing our business based on information that was at least three years old. And that one of the people who was influencing him was a former executive at my company who had an axe to grind.

Somewhere along the line, someone hadn’t been thorough enough to bring this guy along in his understanding.

It took about a year and a half. And ultimately, this very influential critic became a very influential advocate.

So . . . to be a trusted advisor, you need to be thorough. You need to leave no stone unturned.

Number seven, be trustworthy. Or as Uncle George said, “Live a life that is WORTHY of trust.”

Being a trusted advisor is not something you declare. It is not an entitlement given to you because of your title, or because of your seniority. It is something you EARN. And it is something you can lose in an instant.

Case in point: I was working for one of the world’s foremost experts on traumatic brain injuries. A doctor at a prestigious university who had been hired by all the major sports leagues to figure out how to reduce concussions among their athletes.

I have him speaking at conferences. Writing articles. Doing media. Things are going great.

One day he shows me a photo of a mouse in his lab who is wearing a tiny football helmet. The doctor says he has a device that whacks the mouse on the head and causes varying levels of brain injury. Then the doctor measures it. Contrasts the results with the thickness and design and material used in the little football helmet. Produces reports. Advises the leagues and manufacturers.

Sounds horrible and intriguing at the same time, doesn’t it? Causing little mouse concussions? In my journalistic zeal I pounce on the story. I tell it to a MAJOR newspaper and I give them the photo. They immediately run it, and the photo. It gets picked up all over North America. Success, right?

Wrong. For a few days that brilliant doctor became the laughing stock of his profession. Because it turned out the photo was a joke. Yes, they do experiments on mice. But no, of course they don’t have tiny little helmets.

The doctor let me have it. He didn’t give me a concussion, but he used most of the seven dirty words.

You might say, how was I to know? He didn’t tell me it was a joke. But I should have known. As his trusted advisor, I should have been versatile, and humble, and flexible, and curious, and strategic, and thorough. All of the things I’ve been talking about to be worthy of his trust. But I wasn’t, and I let him down.

So . . . to be a trusted advisor, you need to be trust—WORTHY.

In closing, let me say this: When I was growing up in that trailer, whenever I heard a plane flying overhead I would burst out the door and chase it. I would wave at it. And shout at it. And run until the plane was out of sight. I honestly thought I could catch one of those planes. You see, I thought if they could see me, if they could understand what I was going through, they would land just over the hill and take me away from that place.

Well, I finally caught one of those planes. And I realize that I am a lucky man. Because in that time, flying with all of those CEOs, I’ve come to realize something that is very important in my role as a trusted advisor: I AM THE PEOPLE I’VE BEEN FLYING OVER. That, my fellow speechwriters, is my most important insight and most valuable asset. And it is yours as well.

It is people like us who help CEOs who never knew, or have long forgotten, what it is like to be down on the ground instead of high in the air.

Thank you very much.

Portland State University speech archive

PSU SpeakersA Portland State University archivist has uncovered a box of reel-to-reel recordings of campus speeches by figures such as LSD advocate Timothy Leary, Robert F. Kennedy speaking a few short weeks before his assassination, Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling speaking on the effects of radioactive fallout a few months before the Cuban Missile crisis, and poet Allan Ginsberg.

The recordings had been stored in a warehouse after the format went out of use. Luckily, most were in nearly flawless condition and sound as clear as the day they were recorded. PSU has converted 275 hours of tape recordings to digital format. They are available on the web, starting with the most recent recordings from 1979 (when I briefly lived in Portland, but unfortunately did not attend any of these events) all the way back to the earliest from 1952. (Ignore the message on the website stating “This document is currently not available here” and scroll down to the image of the reel-to-reel tape deck to listen.)

These are full-length recordings and include the speaker introduction and audience questions. They are a fascinating and useful resource for speechwriters looking for content on a variety of topics as well as a record of cultural change in America from the 1950’s to the 1970’s.

Cicero Speechwriting Award Winner: Choosing the Gun, General Peter van Uhm

Congratulations to Annelies Breedveld for winning the 2012 Cicero Speechwriting Award with her wonderfully crafted speech for General Peter van Uhm, Chief of Defense for The Netherlands “Choosing the Gun”

“I do not stand here today to tell you about the glory of weapons. I do not like guns, and once you have been under fire yourself it brings home even more clearly that a gun is not some macho instrument to brag about.”

An awesome speech about a controversial topic, way more sophisticated than the simplistic Second Amendment bleating of the NRA. See for yourself.

Toastmaster Time TV Speech: A Tale of Two Cities

Earlier this month I spent an evening in the Palo Alto Community TV studios being filmed for the monthly Toastmaster Time TV production. This long-running show features speeches by members of different San Francisco Bay Area Toastmasters clubs. Archived speeches go back to 1997.

Delivering a speech in a TV studio

I’d given my speech, A Tale of Two Cities, a couple of times before at different Toastmaster Club meetings. I thought I knew it well enough and felt comfortable with the content. However, being in the studio was a new and totally different experience. Not only was there the darkened room with the bright lights in my face and the camera angles to become comfortable with (“speak to the red light as if it is a person”), there was also the challenge of projecting myself into the fish-eye lens of the camera versus the responsive face of a member of an audience.

Dealing with two cameras was a challenge – I wanted to make a seamless transition from one camera to another and not be caught looking at the wrong lens. Watching for the red light was something that takes getting used to.

There was also the “hurry up and wait” aspect to sitting in the studio for over two hours while the producer assembled the volunteer crew, arranged the lights and resolved all the technical issues. Then, suddenly, it was time to deliver the speech without a teleprompter or notes. I thought I’d remember the content. I was wrong.

I hit the main points with one glaring exception. My close depended on an earlier reference to the smells of Paris: the Gauloise cigarettes, the garlic and the girls perfume. But when I reached the end I suddenly realized I’d forgotten to set this up. C’est la vie.

Lessons learned

Learning to present on camera is a skill that takes practice, my first attempt made me realize just how many pieces of the puzzle need to be in place for it to look natural. Being a part of Toastmaster Time gave me a deep appreciation for what the executives I support in my day job go through when they are on camera. Providing notes on a comfort monitor or card is essential. Schedule sufficient time before the broadcast for a run through. I’d recommend speechwriters and executive communications managers give a speech in a TV studio in order to appreciate the challenge clients face.

Andy Bechtolsheim: on innovation for start-ups

Andy BechtolsheimSun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim kicked off the 2011 Gateway to the US program jointly hosted by ANZA Technology Network and CCICE at the Computer History Museum in Mt. View. His keynote reviewed the challenges and opportunities start-ups face in contrast to established companies.

He claims that the current uncertainties in the world economy favor start-ups. Andy shared his own experience starting Sun in the early 1980s when the economy was on the ropes. In 2001 economic hard times made Google’s paid search a viable alternative to expensive banner ads and the company took off.

Andy shared the five reasons new ideas fail and also listed the most promising areas for start-ups to invest in the I.T. space.

Hear him share his insights into why start-ups are more innovative than established companies by viewing the edited highlights from his keynote below.

Allison Massari wins major National Speakers Association contest

Allison Massari Wins NSA Contest

A panel of distinguished judges at the National Speakers Association Annual Convention selected Allison Massari as the winner of the ‘So You Think You Can Speak’ competition late Sunday.

Allison, a 2010 NSA Northern California Pro-Track graduate, had made it to the final group of six contestants after being selected by the Northern California Chapter as the most promising speaker who had been a member for two years or less. Judges selected finalists from videos of dozens of candidates submitted by chapters around the country.

The evening event was judged by convention chair, multi-millionaire speaker Randy Gage; world class communicator Glenna Salsbury and business transformational speaker Roxanne Emmerich.

Allison Massari with Glenna Salsbury, Randy Gage and Roxanne Emmerich

The six finalists were asked to present a three-minute keynote to the 1,500 convention attendees. The judges gave each presenter valuable feedback and then selected three finalists who gave a second three-minute presentation.

Allison was the only woman in the final six and her powerful stage presence rocked the room. Both presentations were stories from her main keynote, delivered to clients worldwide, about the challenges she faced overcoming the terrible pain of being burned alive in a head-on 60 mph auto accident.

NSA Northern California Chapter members celebrated Allison’s win and look forward to toasting her at their local chapter meeting later in the year.

Interview: Christine Robinson, Winning Toastmaster – Part 2

How does someone prepare for a Toastmasters International Speech Contest?

Christine Robinson - ToastmastersIn the second part of my podcast interview with Toastmasters District 57 winner Christine Robinson, we discuss the upcoming 2010 Toastmasters International Convention.

Very few women have ever won the World Championship, and Christine is only two speeches away from that possibility.

Every one of us at Christine’s home club, the Speakers Forum in Concord, CA, is doing all we can to help her prepare and practice a new speech for the final round of the contest.

To hear how she plans to prepare for the event, click on the podcast icon below.

Interview: Christine Robinson, Winning Toastmaster – Part 1

How are winning Toastmasters speeches created?

Christine Robinson - Toastmasters

I asked Christine Robinson, whose speech The Empty Chair won the District 57 Spring Conference May 8, 2010, held at the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo California.

In this podcast interview, Christine discusses the original motivation for the theme of the speech and then shares the mechanics of writing and practicing the speech.

Her speech is rooted in the passion and conviction for the topic: “It had it’s own vitality…it is time, now more than ever, to fill our chairs, to be present for others.”

Tomorrow, I’ll share Part 2 of the interview, where Christine talks about the upcoming contest in Palm Desert.

To hear Part 1 of the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

Meryl Streep: Barnard Commencement Speech

Meryl StreepMeryl Streep opened her soul to the Barnard College graduating class last Monday. In a compelling commencement speech acknowledging the value of single-sex education, she celebrated both the power of a women’s perspective and the power of empathy to bring real change.

Ethos, Logos, Pathos

Her speech employed the classic Aristotelian elements of persuasive public speaking: ethos, logos and pathos.

She used ethos to establish her bone fides as an Academy Award winner and famous actress (albeit a person suffering a fame that separates her from “friends, from reality, from proportion”).

There was minimal logos in the speech. But she did include data from The Economist about women’s effects on economic growth and, tongue in cheek, on the research she’d conducted in high school on how to attract boys with peroxide hair and brand name clothes from the pages of Seventeen and Vogue – decades before the Devil wore Prada!

Above all, with wit and charm, Streep employed pathos to establish an emotional bond with the audience. She told emotionally appealing stories – of herself as a young girl swaddling her Betsy Wetsy doll; as an undergraduate, unkempt as the Velveteen Rabbit; as a new mother giving a very different commencement speech full of certainty and “earnest full-throated cheerleading”.

Adolescent pretense

Having proclaimed her fame and success, and built common cause with the women in the audience, she invited the graduates to explore the darker side of outward success in life, of what lies behind the inner door:

Cobwebs, black, the light bulbs burned out, the airless dank refrigerator of an insanely over-scheduled, unexamined life that usually just gets take-out.

She invited the audience to identify with her as a woman who had, like them, suffered the pretenses of adolescence, of acting a role to “pretend quite proficiently to be successful … as have many women here, I’m sure.”

For Streep, the pretense reached a zenith in high school. She deliberately set out to become the “generically pretty high school girl” with a child-like cute giggle, lowering her eyes at the right moment to appeal to boys, “at the same time being accepted by the girls, a very tricky negotiation.” So successful was her characterization she later used it in her portrait of Linda in The Deer Hunter, to the delight and fascination of President Clinton.

Celebrating Single-Sex Education

In contrast to her artificial role in high school, attending Vassar when it was still—as Barnard is today—a single-sex school, allowed Streep the room she needed to flourish.

“I didn’t have to pretend, I could be goofy, vehement, aggressive, and slovenly and open and tough and my friends let me.”

Empathy

Streep contrasts her 1978 role as Linda in The Deer Hunter with her 2006 role as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Clinton might have lusted after the submissive Linda but, claims Streep, it’s a measure of how far the world has come that men today tell her they can relate to Miranda – a woman who signifies the thankless position of the misunderstood leader. She finds it a cause for optimism that straight men today have the ability to empathize with a woman protagonist. Women are brought up to identify with male characters. However, it’s rare that men can identify with women characters.

The emotional expression of empathy for strong woman speaks to Streep of a generational shift in attitude:

Men are adapting…They are changing their deepest prejudices to regard as normal the things that their fathers would have found very, very difficult and their grandfathers would have abhorred and the door to this emotional shift is empathy.

Unique Perspective

This newfound emotional capacity for empathy is, for Streep, the transformative light by which consciousness changes. When light shines through the cracks, there is the possibility of a “completely different perspective”. This possibility is heralded by an age when women are awarded more medical and law degrees than men; when “around the world, poor women now own property who used to be property”; when the employment of women has contributed more to global GDP growth than new technology and the rise of India and China.

Streep challenges the graduating class to apply the unique perspective their single-sex education has given them in the world. They can “speed progress” solving the crucial global problems of human rights and gender inequality.

Off-hand delivery

Her self-depreciating speech was delivered in a deliberately off-hand way; speaking to her audience in the manner of shared dorm-room confidences; offering them a glimpse of her own uncertainty and doubt behind the façade of fame; free of conventional oratory in the way that only someone with a couple of Oscars could.

Here’s a video of Streep delivering her speech.