Hal Gordon: Bite the bullet—Turn your speaker’s liabilities into assets

Hal Gordon has been a professional speechwriter for nearly 25 years. His clients have included cabinet-rank federal officials, corporate CEOs and General Colin Powell. He’s also one of the few pro speechwriters who blogs – way to go, Hal!

Good speakers, like good speechwriters, are made, not born. Some of the greatest speakers who ever lived have had to overcome a stammer, an accent, a natural shyness, a physical handicap or some other disadvantage before they could conquer a crowd. If your speaker has a problem, the best approach is not to duck it or paper it over, but to meet it head-on.

If you bite the bullet, you have a good chance of turning your speaker’s liabilities into assets.

This session promised that we’d learn how to:

Overcoming obstacles

As speechwriters, we know that if we’ve got a good speaker as a client, we’re halfway home before we’ve written our first word.

But what if we have a poor speaker? What if we have a speaker who has a lisp, a stammer or a distracting handicap of some kind? What if our speaker is shy, or not used to public speaking? Or what if we have a good speaker who is disadvantaged by circumstances? We have all had to write speeches for clients to deliver to audiences that are hostile to the speaker, or skeptical of his message, or both..

Hal teased us by quoting the case of a politician who was seen as a village idiot, and had to give a speech to a skeptical audience. No, it wasn’t the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but the Roman Emperor Claudius who addressed a hostile audience. “Senators, I understand you don’t want another Emperor, but you have been given one…As for speaking, it’s true that I have an impediment, but isn’t what a man says more important than how long it takes to say it.â€? Claudius takes each of his liabilities and turns them into an asset:

Another example of a speaker who triumphed magnificently over adversity is Churchill. he suffered both from a lisp and stammer and never fully overcame them. His devastating attack in the Houses of Parliament on Ramsey MacDonald in 1936 relied on a stammered pause before delivering the punchline:

I remember, when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum’s circus, which contained an exhibition of freaks and monstrosities, but the exhibit . . . which I most desired to see was the one described as ‘The Boneless Wonder’. I never thought I would have to wait 50 years to see the boneless wonder now sitting on the Treasury bench.

Other speakers use an accent to charm, as did JFK.

Using Humor

If you’ve got a good speaker and a hostile crowd, the speaker can often find something funny about the incongruity of the situation, and break the ice with a friendly laugh.

Self-deprecating humor is often the best approach to take in these situations. It is also the safest, since no one can object if the speaker makes fun of himself for having a stammer or an accent – or for being unusually tall, short or heavy. Or even for being bald.

Lincoln used self-depreciating humor – accused of being two faced he said “If I was, would I choose to wear this one?�

Defusing hostility

Example: Bush’s speech to the hostile crowd at the NAACP – a group he had avoided meeting until that point. He defused the situation as follows:

Thank you very much. Bruce, thanks for your introduction. Bruce is a polite guy — I thought what he was going to say, it’s about time you showed up. (Laughter and applause.) And I’m glad I did. (Applause.)

But what about those occasions where humor of any kind is, for some reason, inappropriate? That’s when you really have to bit the bullet and face the problem head-on.

In one respect, there is no difference in writing for a hostile, rather than a friendly audience.

Aristotle taught that there were three main devices for moving audiences – ethos, logos and pathos. They remain the same. We simply adapt them to the occasion.

Ethos – building a bond with audience
Logos – Appealing to reason and logic
Pathos – Appealing to emotion

The basics don’t change but need to be adopted when facing a tough crowd. Usually this means paying particular attention to Ethos.

Dig into your speaker’s background to discover a link to the audience. John Hofmeister, CEO of Shell Oil, spoke to the NAACP in Houston. The crowd wondered if he was committed to diversity. Rosa Parks had died shortly before the speech, this jogged his memory. He recalled living in Atlanta in 1955. As a 5-year-old he wanted to sit at the back of the bus when in those days Whites were not allowed to. His grandmother supported him and they were thrown off the bus. When he recounted this story to the NAACP and said “I hope that in Heaven God will introduce my grandmother to Rosa Parks” he brought the crowd to their feet.

The Byzantine emperor Justinian’s’ wife Theodora made a brief, telling speech under somewhat difficult circumstances: armed mobs were descending on the Palace and many of the nobles, plus her own husband, wanted to flee.

Theodora begins with the acknowledgement that urging acts of daring was not considered womanly but nonetheless she took a tough line and urged defiance. Her husband might flee if he wished, but she would stay, for she liked the ancient maxim which said that royalty made a good shroud.

My Lords, the present occasion is too serious to allow me to follow the convention that a woman should not speak in a man’s counsel. Those whose interests are threatened by extreme danger should think only of the wisest course of action, not of conventions. In my opinion, flight is not the right course even if it should bring us to safety. It is impossible for a person having been born into this world not to die. But for one who has reined it is intolerable to be a fugitive. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty, we are rich, we have ships, yonder lies the harbor. Yet reflect for a moment whether you have escaped to a place of security, you would not gladly exchange such safety for death. As for me, I agree with the old adage that the royal purple makes the noblest shroud.

She seized on her liabilities as a woman who stays to fight. The men in the audience could not flee when they heard this. When she had them by their manhood, their hearts and minds followed.

I was struck by the ways in which female leaders such as Margaret Thatcher (the leaderine as the British Press called her) echo this. Thatcher’s cabinet were depicted as clustering around her like drones round a Queen Bee. She exploited the perceived ‘weakness’ of her sex by out macho-ing the macho. Are there not strong echoes of Theodora in her famous 1980 speech to the Conservative Party Congress:

To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the “U” turn, I have only one thing to say. “You turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning.” I say that not only to you but to our friends overseas and also to those who are not our friends.

One wonders if America is ready to be taken to task by a Theodora, a Margaret or, dare I say, a Hilary?

The Motivational speech

Hal next asked us to consider the case of a new 27-year-oldgeneral giving a pep-talk to his men. They’ve not been paid in months. There’s no supplies or back pay. He’s inexperienced and they resent his appointments. Rumor is that he only got his job because his wife slept with the Minister of War. Napoleon (for it was he) was about to win his first battle with words not the sword.

On March 27, 1796 he roused his army with these words:

Soldiers, you are naked, ill fed! The Government owes you much; it can give you nothing. Your patience, the courage you display in the midst of these rocks, are admirable; but they procure you no glory, no fame is reflected upon you. I seek to lead you into the most fertile plains in the world. Rich provinces, great cities will be in your power. There you will find honor, glory, and riches. Soldiers of Italy, would you be lacking in courage or constancy?

In this short speech he devotes first half to ethos. He’s unflinchingly honest about the situation. The same issues are faced by an executive having to discuss downsizing. He motivates them by the promise of looting. (This might only work on Wall Street and during the glory days of Enron). Note how he does not tell, he asks Are you men enough to take it? It’s probably a better rhetorical device for the VP of Sales than the CEO. His confidence in his destiny allowed him to take the risks. He gave his men hope. His rival Wellington said Napoleon’s mere presence on a battlefield was worth 40,000 men.

The Aw Shucks Speech

When all else fails the best option might be to say how bad you are at speaking. I’m not a speaker and I don’t pretend to be, I’m just going to give you the facts. This is the one bond you have with every audience. Everyone can identify with this. None other than Shakespeare used this device in the play Othello, who, when accused of beguiling the daughter of nobleman with witchcraft (would ‘twer that easy lads!) says he’s not an orator, he’s a foreigner, an outsider. The speech he makes in his defense is disingenuously effective:

Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors,
My very noble and approved good masters,
That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter,
It is most true; true, I have married her:
The very head and front of my offending
Hath this extent, no more. Rude am I in my speech,
And little bless’d with the soft phrase of peace:
For since these arms of mine had seven years’ pith,
Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
Their dearest action in the tented field,
And little of this great world can I speak,
More than pertains to feats of broil and battle,
And therefore little shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,
I will a round unvarnish’d tale deliver
Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms,
What conjuration and what mighty magic,
For such proceeding I am charged withal,
I won his daughter.

All speechwriters should enjoy poetry. Do you?

Othello’s brave deeds on the tented field not pretty words acquitted him. Actions always speak louder than words, which is hard for speechwriters to admit.

Many thanks to Hal for a most entertaining and educational hour.

Tom Mucciolo: Get physical: How to move beyond words and help your speaker master the more important keys to speechmaking

Speechwriters naturally care more about words than about style. And rightly so: Words are our jobs. Finely honed speeches can deliver verbal eloquence, but this is only half the battle. The MTV Generation audience focus more on the body language of the speaker than on the words he or she says. Across diverse cultures audiences get 55% of information from visual clues given by the presenter; 38% from how it is presented; a mere 7% from the content.

Tom Mucciolo, CEO of MediaNet, a New York-based firm that teaches top corporate and political leaders how to combine words, visuals and delivery to create powerful presentations, is a recognized industry expert in visual communications, business presentations and leadership skills. He is the co-author of various books including Purpose, Movement, Color: A Strategy for Effective Presentations and a series on Using Microsoft Powerpoint.

He delivered a fascinating session on the power of body language, eye contact, and theatrical gestures for enhancing the effectiveness of speakers.

The session promised to teach the ways to:

Mucciolo explained there are three aspects of every presentation: The Message – the things we have to say; The Visuals – evidence supporting this; the presenters Delivery Skills – supporting the lot.

People are nervous before presenting because the words “I� and “me� go through their head (something we later heard bothers Homeland Security Czar Tom Ridge) – they focus on themselves, not the audience.

Presenters need to know positioning and body language skills. These tips sound picky but it’s equivalent to a typo of body language not to be consistent. Executives freak over typos on slide — that’s only 7% of the information!

Mucciolo’s checklist for effective presentations included:

Positioning skills

LEFT is Right

Position the presenter to the left of the screen so reading patterns are honored.

Stand at an angle

The position of the body closer to or further from the audience raises or lowers intimacy. Become aware of the triangle formed with the presenter, audience and content. Move the body within this space to keep peoples attention. If the presenter is locked in one space the speech becomes ‘talk radio’, people tune out and Blackberry use increases. Move closer to the audience to grab their attention (and their hearts and minds will follow).

A speaker behind a lectern is worst. If lecterns did anything, we’d wear them to work! They are security blankets for speakers.

The exposure of the body is the highest form of skill for communicators. Emails and phone conversations can be misinterpreted since they are one-dimensional. People see bodies that move, understanding increases.

Actors know how to use the tilt of the head alone to alter the tone a conversation. Tilt head back: big picture; straight on: basic information; lean forward: more personal. This works on the TV screen and in close ups for speakers in big auditoriums. Practicing this skill will feel awkward, but become more natural over time.

Speakers need to take chances and move beyond their comfort zone.

All in the shoulders

45-degrees to audience is the rest position. Don’t stand squared on all the time, it’s just like yelling constantly, you lose impact. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Stand squared on is your power position. Use it sparingly.

Upstaging errors

Don’t turn your back on the audience to read PowerPoint

Being able to read is not a compelling skill.

(And the less content visible to the audience on PowerPoint the more eloquence and power there is.)

Don’t cross your body with your right hand

This closes you off to your audience. Staying physically open increases your credibility and says to the audience Give me your best shot, go ahead!.

Don’t tease, let them see your expertise.

Crowd pleasing tips

Establish eye contact

Reach out with open palms

As welcoming as a handshake. Use it to invite audience feedback. Don’t just flip your palms. Hold the gesture.

Phrase and pause

Avoid fillers and excessive pacing which sows you are searching for the next thing to say.

Talk to individuals

Get agreement

SMILE

If you’re not having a good time presenting the audience won’t enjoy it. When you laugh your heart is open – it can’t be rehearsed, it’s an internal emotion, like tears. After a joke gets the audience laughing the presenter has a 30-second pass to say anything they want and it’ll go into long-term memory. It stretches the rubber band of the emotion.

But don’t start a talk with a joke to break the ice. Whose cold, anyway? Use humor later on in the talk and remember that observation humor is better that canned jokes.

Taking a stand

Hands at the side, always shown

This might feel awkward at first, but it looks best. The expert exposes the body. Use your hands to create speech that’s three-dimensional.

Elbows and knees unlocked

Feet shoulder-width apart

Weight unevenly distributed

This makes gestures look natural. More symmetrical actions are unnatural. Shifted weight conveys authority. Squaddies stand at attention, the top brass are all relaxed. The relaxed doctor gives the diagnosis to the upright, tense patient.

What FEELS unnatural LOOKS natural. Presentations are not about you, they’re about the audience.

Avoid the stance of the Gunfighter; Head waiter; 3rd Base coach; Conversationalist.

There are only three possible relationships. We are all either:
The Parent-Child
The Brother-sister
The Husband-Wife

The famous moment on TV when Clinton scolded the interviewer who’d asked him if he’d had sexual relationships with Monica Lewinsky showed him acting as a parent. He realized a President is legitimate to the extent he’s perceived as a Parent. So, Clinton’s very specific gesture when denying sex with Monica was the parental wagging of a finger. An open palm response at that moment would’ve been asking for forgiveness and probably scuppered his Presidency.

Speaking up: Tips on using your voice

Be aware of the difference when you write for men vs. women.

Females have big voice advantage – their lower center of gravity delivers a more melodious voice and can carry longer phrases. Men sound off key and do better with shorter phrases. Men should breathe between phrases but can project with better volume. Men can project to back of room while women sound shrill. Men should create interaction wherever possible. Women should pick a guy for an interactive question to make them sound good. Make your first interactive question one of opinion not of fact. If they get one wrong you’re out of favor.

Your voice can help you get out of awkward situations. Use one of these three ‘E’ words to keep the audience on your side if you face hostile questions:

Can you give me an Example, or Explain that or Elaborate on that.

An audience member will want to be on their best behavior to gain points with fellow audience members. Don’t allow audience members to lose their dignity or lose face in front of their peers. Never ask them questions they’ll be wrong on. If they give an incorrect answer, rephrase the question.

In summery, the three things an effective presenter should always do:

1. SHIFT your weight
2. SHOW the palms of your hands
3. SHOW their teeth, smile to express energy and joy.

And remember, go easy on The Man. Good coaches don’t try and change too much at once.

Michele Nix: Best-case speechwriting scenario: What I’ve learned working for the dream client

Sometimes speechwriters draft speeches they hope are never, ever given. Michelle Nix is one.

She’s an inside-the-Beltway speechwriter who ‘nagged’ her way into her first job working speeches for “Papaâ€? Bush. She was in on the beginning at Homeland Security supporting the newly appointed Tom Ridge.

Her hope is that a series of speeches Homeland Security have in a ‘red file’ are never used. These are the equivalent to obituaries newspapers keep on file for public figures to be instantly available if they die. They are the speeches that will be given when the next terrorist outrage happens. Chemical, biological or nuclear attack, in one location or many – Michelle has the speech outlines drafted. One can only imagine:

My fellow Americans. It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that [CITY] today suffered a devastating [NUCLEAR/BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL] attack. Our thoughts go out to those survivors who are now struggling to cope with the devastation in their beloved [CITY]….

Thankfully, the speech remains on file and has not yet been used.

This would be good practice for Corporate speechwriters. The challenge is anticipating the worst and being prepared with the right messaging. After all, who would’ve thunk that HP would be in the media spotlight for a ‘Spy Scandal’?

Michelle shared a surprisingly frank view of the early days of Homeland Security and the struggles the communication team faced. The formation of the Department saw the communications team brainstorming goals on the back of a napkin. Uncertainty reigned. Nothing could guarantee perfect security for America. Early headlines quoted Ridge saying When, not if, another attack would occur. Hard messages had to be conveyed: It’s Code Orange, but keep shopping. There were carictures of Ridge as the ‘Czar’ of Homeland Security:

Her job paralleled this confusion. Political appointees with no speechwriting experience were jockeying for positions. Her credibility was on the line and she requested his support for decisions to keep the staff professional. Security clearance took forever. She taped him to get his patterns of speech. His extemporaneous eloquence was rich fodder for key phrases.

She raised the bar – delivering him the phrasing, background and stats in his formal speeches.

CNN asked if he got a new speechwriter.

Their collaboration is based on respect. He exhibited early evidence of being a dream client. Example: When traveling she took the Secret Service Agents seat on the jet and sat next to him while he reviewed text of speeches. “I realize that these 10 pages probably took your 16 hours to write. I realize a lot of work goes into my speeches and I appreciate that.�

He expected her to deliver the best, she expected him to deliver the speech. After the trust was built she expanded the boundaries. The post-9/11 messages had to deal with outrage in country. As Governor he was overcome with emotion when Flight 93 crashed.

They needed to define the enemy to Americans – it was not just Osama Bin Laden. He wanted to say “Eat our shortsâ€? in speeches, but could not. He wanted to be very clear who enemy was. They were described as murderers not freedom fighters. He asked for her input on strategy. They were aware terrorists were also watching CNN. Ridge included her in consultations he had with intelligence and the military — “What do you think, Michelle?”

Not surprisingly, Ridge’s favorite speaker is Churchill. He loves discussing the great orators of history with her.

They built a mutual comfort zone. She was able to ask for his input, get him to tell her stories. This was a challenge because Ridge does not like to talk about himself. It became a struggle to draw out personal stories. His father had a great influence on him: teaching him all that all work has dignity.

Neither Ridge nor Papa Bush was comfortable using the word “I� in speeches. Their mothers told them not to bring attention to themselves. She had to reassure him that it’s OK to use the word within the boundary of maternal influence. One doubts Sir Winston struggled with this problem.

Ridge has now grown into an international statesman who gives speeches in the UK, Canada and Asia. His messaging is broadening. The “Boy from Eire, PA” with 25 years of public service has come a long way. But he’s dealing with same issues. And he’s now more willing to put “Iâ€? in speeches.

Michelle’s book Woman at the Podium is a first-ever collection of speeches by some of the world’s most famous women, including Elizabeth I, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor Roosevelt, Golda Meir, Clare Boothe Luce, Barbara Jordan, Margaret Thatcher, Katharine Graham and many others.

Rob Friedman: Motivating the troops: The speech to boost morale and convince people to do hard things

Thanks to Rob for producing extensive handout notes which I’ve annotated as the main part of this blog report.

Rob Friedman is a senior writer for Eli Lilly & Co. and a former editor of Speechwriter’s Newsletter. He’s been attending Speechwriters Conferences for over twenty years.

“Reasons lead to conclusions; emotion leads to action.”
– Neurologist Donald Caine

Any organization going through change—in short, virtually every organization in the world today—needs leaders who can motivate employees to step up, overcome obstacles and achieve tough goals. But how to do it?

Motivation and emotion share the same root – the Latin word to move.

As with a persuasive speech, the goal of a motivational speech is to move an audience from one place to another. But while persuasion works mostly through logic, reason and argumentation, motivation – which aims at action – relies on emotions and feelings, such as pride, respect, belief, duty, fear and desire.

Ten techniques that stir feelings and move people to action.

1. Build a bond. Build the speaker’s credibility by establishing authority and empathy.

People want to know you know what you are talking about and you are with them, that you are an empathetic expert. The odds of getting people to do difficult things increase if they feel those doing the asking know what they’re talking about and understand what it takes.

Someone once said, “Morale is faith in the person on top.” Motivational speakers are authorities and experts. When college football coach Lou Holtz speaks on improving performance, he (or those introducing him) underscores that he inherited five losing teams and took them all to Bowl games within two years.
Motivators also make clear that “We’re all in this together” – not you must do this, but we will do it together.

When 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 the Queen. But she showed her bond by saying: “… I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all.”

Her visit illustrates an important point about credibility: it’s built not on rhetoric but on actions.

An executive who speaks heart-to-heart without notes shows how close to the audience they are. This establishes instant credibility.

Having leaders who make sacrifices gives credibility when calling for change from other employees.

2. Pump them up

Good motivators stroke the ego, tell people how good they are, inspire confidence that they can get the job done. When a client is asked to speak, find out about the group’s accomplishments and recognize them. One common technique is to “compliment and stretch” – recognize their accomplishments but urge them onward, as Napoleon did, exhorting his troops in the Italian campaign of 1796:

“Soldiers, you are precipitated like a torrent from the heights of the Apennines; you have overthrown and dispersed all that dared to oppose your march … Yes soldiers, you have done much; but more still remains for you.”

3. Light the burning platform

People need a sense of urgency to be motivated to act or change. Better than the ‘don’t worry, be happy’ style, dramatize the magnitude of the challenge and the need to act now. State what is unacceptable. Dispense with the sugar-coating; give it to them straight.

On December 8, 1941, with the U.S.S. Arizona still smoking, Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation:
“We are now in this war. We are in it – all the way. It will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war … We don’t like it – we didn’t want to get in it – but we are in it and we’re going to fight it with everything we’ve got.”

4. Stretch them

To get high performance, you need to get people to do more than they believe they can. Among the ways to do this are to:

Set high expectations, big challenges. Set standards for yourself higher than anyone else would set them. In spring of 1961, JFK committed the U.S. to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth within the decade. The country had 12 minutes of human spaceflight experience when JFK made his challenge.

5. Examples to show them success

Identifying with high achievers helps people reach. Hold up a hero, an exemplar, or someone who has overcome adversity. Look into organizational history for inspiring stories. Hero was a character in Greek Mythology.

Example:

Wilma Rudolph was born in Tennessee in 1940, premature at 4½ pounds. She suffered one illness after another and her left leg and foot were weak and deformed. Doctors told her she had polio and would never walk.

She was named United Press Athlete of the Year for 1960.

Cast your net wide; draw on examples of excellence in sports, the arts, business, exploration, leadership, your field and more. Exemplars can be institutions as well as individuals. Search the history of your organization for examples of heroic feats – and use them to motivate people to overcome current challenges.

6. Show them the consequences of failure

Some people crave winning; others fear losing. Many kids are motivated by the threat of “or else”.

Patton fired up the troops by reminding them that “Americans don’t like to lose.”

To keep the Catholic schoolboys in James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man virtuous, the preacher paints a hell-raising picture of the agonies of hell.

To motivate people to uphold the highest standards of ethics, describe the devastation caused by the leaders of Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, Cendant. Just mine the pages of the newspapers.

Motivate by describing (among others):

7. Tell them what you want them to do

Be clear about the goals of the speech. Make sure the audience is clear about the action you want. Good leaders distill what is complex and make the actions seem doable. Enumerate the steps.

In August 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King was inspirational but also gave his followers explicit instructions:

“Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.”

GE under Jack Welch followed three priorities: globalization, services, and Six Sigma and quality. In each internal speech, Welch hammered home the actions employees needed to take to fulfill these priorities.

8. Paint a Vision of future

Show your audience why their struggle will be worth it – they will win, help humanity, be more fulfilled, sustain the legacy of a great institution. Paint the vision of the future, show what it’ll mean to accomplish the tasks.

Again, King:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Winston Churchill to the House of Commons, June 18, 1940, on the upcoming war against the Nazis:

“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

Eli Lilly executive Patty Martin spoke on diversity in a talk titled ‘Make Difference Matter’:

One final question for each of you. What does success look like for you? I know what it looks like for me. I asked my daughter what she wants to be when she grows up. She answered, I want to work at Lilly, because you make good medicine. I want Lilly to be the kind of company in twenty years that will attract my daughter, motivate her and use every God-given talent she has to offer to help make great medicine. That’s what success looks like to me. That’s what matters to me. Ask yourself this question: what matters to you? And then, please, let that be your reason for doing everything you can to make difference matter.

9. Conclude with the call to action or challenge

Mine the preceding eight steps for ideas.

Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel urging his leadership team to the hard task of transforming the company:

“Now it falls to us to write a new and, I believe, luminous chapter in this story of transformation. As we set out, I want you to feel as I do that this is not what we are forced to do … this is what we are called to do. Let’s get to it!”

10. Show your passion

Ultimately a speaker’s passion can make the difference between motivating the audience and leaving them dispirited. This can be challenging for corporate speakers.

Listen for your clients’ passions so you can incorporate them when they have to motivate. Learn what it is your speakers are passionate about. Write stories for them that will help. Listen to the clients. Write conversationally, drop the passive voice.

Speaker training makes a big difference. Coach them to speak without notes and to make eye contact. Get a structure they’re comfortable with and encourage them to use their own words. Have them rehearse out loud. Passion shows up in the voice. Encourage them to show their passion. People are afraid of going over the top. There’s cognitive dissonance feeling goofy when it’s right on. Remind them what’s at stake.

Find the human impact at the end of the desired action.

At the end of the day have integrity. Temper good motivation with realism – drop the cheerleading. Be candid.

Motivational Speech Samples

Reading 1
Queen Elizabeth I, visiting the troops at Tilbury on the eve of the battle with the invincible Spanish Armada, 1588

“My loving people, we have been persuaded by some, that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I have always behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you at this time, not as for my recreation or sport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all; to lay down, for my God, and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honor and my blood, even the dust.

“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.

“I know already, by your forwardness, that you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and by your valor in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over the enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people.”

Motivational techniques she uses:

– she links herself to her people, obliterating the distance with them
– she appeals to national pride
– she shows vulnerability and courage
– she predicts victory
– she’ll reward them with money

Reading 2
Napoleon exhorting his troops during the Italian campaign of 1796-7

“Soldiers, you are precipitated like a torrent from the heights of the Apennines; you have overthrown and dispersed all that dared to oppose your march. Milan is yours; the dukes of Parma and Modena are indebted for their political existence only to your generosity.

“The army, which so proudly menaced you, has had no other barrier that its dissolution to oppose your invincible courage. The Po, the Tessin, the Adds, could not retard you a single day. The vaunted bulwarks of Italy were insufficient.”

“Yes soldiers, you have done much; but more still remains for you.”

– The segue at the end both compliments and stretches the troops.

Reading 3
Sue Suter, former U.S. Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services, to New Zealand Rehabilitation Association

“I contracted polio when I was two years old. I don’t remember it. But I do remember my parents telling me about the advice that the doctor gave when it was time to take me home from the hospital. He told them, ‘Just put her in bed. She’s going to be staying there the rest of her life.’

“When I was in college, I decided to go after a Master’s degree in clinical psychology. But my career counselor advised against it. He warned that it was hard enough for a woman with a disability to get married. Having an advanced degree would only intimidate a man more.

“When our son was born, the day before he and I were to leave the hospital a social worker visited me to inquire how I was going to possibly care for a newborn infant.

“These were well-meaning professionals who believed that they knew what was best for me. But my life would be much different, and I probably wouldn’t be with you today, if I had followed their advice.”

Reading 4
Tim Russert at Commencement of the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law

“People with backgrounds like yours and mine can make a difference.

“In Poland, it was a young electrician named Lech Walesa, the son of a carpenter, who transformed a nation from communism to democracy. In Czechoslovakia, a writer named Vaclav Havel, the son of an office clerk, who traded his pen for a podium and rallied his people to freedom. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela, a brave black man who worked his way through law school as a police officer, spent 28 years in jail to make one central point: we are all created equal.

“All these leaders have one thing in common with you. Like the past, the future leaders of this country, of this world and of the legal profession were not born to the blood of kings, but to the blood of immigrants and pioneers.
“Now it’s your turn.”

Reading 5
Sidney Taurel, Lilly’s 2006 Global Leadership Conference, on why his leadership will succeed in transforming our company

“The road ahead will be tough – make no mistake about it. But it leads to a brighter future for those with the will and the skill to walk it.

As we set off now, it may help to look back over our 130 years of history and realize that – as a company – we’ve traveled this way many times before.
Over the years, the people of Eli Lilly and Company have repeatedly responded to a changing environment by bringing forth new technologies: insulin … polio vaccines … cephalosporin antibiotics … the first biotech products … breakthroughs in neuroscience.

“At several points in our history, we have reinvented the company, along with our product line, evolving our business strategy to deal with new threats or opportunities – think of the creation of Elanco … the acquisitions of new business lines in cosmetics, medical devices, pharmacy benefits management … and then the subsequent divestment of these assets to refocus on pharmaceutical innovation … all of this is living proof of the vital capacity of the firm to learn and adapt and thrive in a world of constant change.

“Now it falls to us to write a new and, I believe, luminous chapter in this story of transformation. As we set out, I want you to feel as I do that this is not what we are forced to do … this is what we are called to do.
Let’s get to it!”

Reading 6
Dr. Robert McAfee, inaugural address as president of the American Medical Association, framed as a conversation with his son, who had recently begun his own practice as a physician, June, 1994

“One last piece of advice.

“More than anything else, I want you to remember to be a good physician, a good doctor. I want you to listen to your patients. I want you to touch them every day on your rounds. Hold their hand. Squeeze their shoulder. Pat them on the back. Look into their eyes.

“Remember how lonely that person is; remember how lonely you were when you were a patient. Don’t be afraid to sit down with that patient rather than stand at the end of the bed. That small gesture can make such a big difference. Remember to take the medical chart into the room with you, and write your medical progress report in the patient’s room – it’s so much more meaningful.

“Don’t forget to smile – it’s awfully important. And don’t be afraid to cry. Sometimes when you are alone with the patient, when you remember a special patient, a colleague, a loved one; sometimes when you are with the family, sometimes when you are home alone, sometimes in those quiet moments. Don’t be afraid to cry. It’s okay.

“And don’t forget to call the family. Not just when big victories Occur – but sometime, some day, when there isn’t any reason. Just to say, ‘How are you getting along at home? Mother or dad is doing fine – be home in a few days – are you ready for them? How do you feel about things? Is there anything we can do for you?’”

Reading 7
How to tell a story

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little, started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted.

— Buddhist parable

Liam Scott: ‘Corporate theatre’: Innovative techniques for getting your speaker heard and remembered

According to Scott, speechwriters are the Canadians of the business world – people don’t pay attention to us unless something goes wrong.

“A day after a speech, people may not remember what you said, but they’ll remember what they think of you.� That’s why Liam Scott prefers not to write speeches but rather to present what he calls “corporate theatre.� He’s created dramatic and successful executive communication programs as elaborate as a six-act musical play and as simple as a no-PowerPoint speech.

He has come to the conclusion that the formal speech is dying if not dead. These days, audiences put a premium on authenticity, not on ideas. “A day after a speech, people may not remember what you said, but they’ll remember what they think of you.” And if you read your speech yesterday, and used a slick TelePrompTer and hid behind your PowerPoint, they won’t think well of you today-especially if you delivered a typical corporate speech, Scott adds: “Ninety-five percent of the speeches I see read as if they were all written by the same computer.”

Of course, most speechwriters know all this is true; many CEOs know it but do nothing to enliven their message. CEOs from hidebound industries like banking, Scott says, are “anxious to be on message all the time. They feel the need to be part of the machine, even though they know the audiences aren’t buying it.” In seven years since he quit his last traditional speechwriting job to found Sugarvision, Scott has been clever and lucky enough to find corporate leaders who are interested in communicating effectively with modern audiences-and willing to take the necessary chances.

“I try to make it a little smarter,� Scott says. He took the time to show the conference how to make it smarter too, by:

What is corporate theatre?

The typical corporate event is a pep rally with the theme “Go Big” or “Pump It Up.” Scott’s productions are often much more elaborate.

To wit: He created a six-act musical play for a meeting of car dealers in Las Vegas. The play, which involved a chorus girl and the ghosts of the Rat Pack, interspersed thematically and creatively supported executive presentations about the need for car companies to rise from the middle to the top of their industry.

Not all of Scott’s case studies are so gaudy; many are simple, and most of them seem designed to involve humanizing corporate issues. In his first meeting with the CEO of a shopping-mall empire who wanted to meaningfully mark the 40th anniversary of its founding, Scott ascertained that the CEO himself was turning 40. The comparison between an organization turning 40 and a person turning 40-a time to consider your health, a time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, and the CEO bought it immediately.

Some of Scott’s ideas, in fact, are characterized by their simplicity. A telecommunications CEO client was one of a series of speakers at a technology conference. Scott looked at the program and noted that all the other presentations were highly technical in nature and he surmised all of them would involve an impressive PowerPoint presentation. So he advised his client to do no PowerPoint and instead to get up there and just tell a story. The CEO, a longtime client, agreed only grudgingly, telling Scott, “I’ll try it. But if it bombs it’s your fault.” He didn’t blame Scott when conference-goers were slapping him on the back and thanking him for sparing them another PowerPoint snoozer.

Scott says the common difference between traditional corporate meetings and his corporate theater is that his shows respect the intelligence of his audience. “I try to make it a little smarter,” he says.

How to transform your work into corporate theater

Add narrative, setting, and characters. The core of the idea is to generate a ‘shared experience’ among the audience.

Scott measures the effectiveness of speeches by marking lines above, in middle and below sentences on the speech script to show if audience was engaged, indifferent, or disengaged at the time it is delivered. He found that off-the-cuff remarks were most appreciated by audiences. People liked the unscripted as more ‘in the moment’.

There’s not much drama in a typical speech. Look for ways to recover unpredictability and shared experiences. Realize people won’t remember the facts you tell them. They’ll remember how to make them feel. Focus speech on that and build in theatricality.

Corporate Theatre is all about finding common ground with another area of human endeavor and linking that to corporate messages.

When structuring it look at Narrative and Setting:

Research the history of the hotel, location, date of event – any unexpected elements? Where’s the nugget?

What is company situation?

Brainstorm by writing ideas that come to mind on big legal pad. Use free association.

First And Best -> Fab -> Fab Four -> Band Together … lots of spin offs with videos and demonstrations. Photoshop salespeople to look like Beatles.

Example: For a sales Award trip to Jamaica they used Reggae songs with a message that were played onstage by a live band. Drew links to corporate messages. Speakers were interviewed by a well-known Canadian TV Host.

Example: Model a company convention on a political convention.

In all these the element of uncertainty, wondering what’ll happen next, means people pay far more attention.

Example: Doing a talk-show is one of the best and most effective ways to create a sense of shared experience. Lots of options: a Morning Show “Brand New Day�. Make up artists, animal trainers etc from everyday talk-shows are al applicable. Interviewing customers and executives onstage far more compelling than any prepared speech. People like the feeling better than being talked at.

Execution is key — how speakers fit into creative presentations. Capture the persons’ character, how they talk on the golf course, how they make decisions. Screenwriters know: characters are defined by the decisions they make.

Build in rehearsal time and minimize use of teleprompter which acts as a wall between the audience. Keep PowerPoint slides to a minimum, use images.

How to sell these fancy ideas to the executive.

What creative communicator wouldn’t prefer to create a fascinating event to a stale old speech? But how
to sell big ideas to cautious clients?

Scott says there are two essential ways:

1. Building up trust with clients over time so that they’ll take a risk on your recommendation.
2. “Having the confidence to suggest an idea right away” with a new client, Scott says.

When you sell to conservative clients be sure to emphasize the links to their business interests. Bring these out in obvious ways. Start with VP Marketing to sell the idea. They can sell it to actual speakers. Focus first efforts internally not on higher-stakes external speeches. Look for measurements around company culture and employee satisfaction and turn-over.

Todd Rubenson: Six Sigma for speechwriters: Apply process-improvement techniques to executive communications

Speechwriting is an art, not a science. Can the processes embedded in executive communications work can be analyzed, improved and measured? That’s what 13-year tenured Bank of America Executive Communications Director Todd Rubenson and his 6-person team of internal and external communications professionals set out to discover by applying Six Sigma quality methodology to their executive communications work. Their results were mixed—but their bold effort had a lasting impact on how they practice the craft.

Todd Rubenson is senior vice president and director of executive communications at Bank of America, where there’s a nice archive of executive speeches. He supports CEO Ken Lewis who focuses on business minutia in contrast to Hugh McCall the more flamboyant prior CEO. There’s now an executive communications team in place to support a range of executives, not just one rock-star. McCall drove growth through M&A. Lewis’s primary strategy is to grow organically.

By centralizing an Exec Comms team Todd found a better level of integration of messaging across the company as well as focusing Exec Comms expertise within the company.

Six Sigma and Process Excellence

CEO Lewis is process driven. BofA aggressively adopted Six Sigma. It’s in place across the whole company, so to the degree it makes sense it’s been applied to Executive Communications. The Exec Comms struggled with strategic priorities around:

1. Planning and metrics – where to accept speeches and measure effects
2. Venue and calendar management – how to ensure executives are working as a team when they accept speaking engagements.
3. Presentation skills and effectiveness
4. Publishing – best way to re-purpose content in Op-Eds

Tools used:

Metric Baselines are compared to Targets and the Actual performance measured as a rate of ‘sigma’ deviance from goal in terms of sigma DMAIC.

Primary metrics they aim move include:

1. Planning and metrics:
  – Percent of the 12 executives they support with a communications plan in place
  – The percent of the speechwriters following a plan
2. Venue and Calendar:
  – % of external speeches proactively places
3. Effectiveness scores
4. Increase in number of publications

These were undertaken with the understanding that implementing them would not piss the executive off. Numbers were tracked for items like speeches accepted by executive. Attempts to quantify the opportunity in dollar terms were seen as a waste of time. Exec Comms is much ‘softer’ in terms of putting dollar costs on improvements compared to the shop floor processes where Six Sigma originated.

Todd admires the Executive Communications team at Cisco who survey each speech by every executive and scores are posted openly inside company.

BofA tracked the complexities of existing process for getting an article published. Fishbone diagrams mapped aspects of a process affecting final outcome. A Cause and Effect Matrix and Failure Modes and Effect Analysis weighs which processes had most dire effect on final outcomes.

The analysis showed they should focus on:

They developed an Annual Communications Plan for each executive. It documents the areas they are passionate about; where this intersects with business interests and how this maps to speaking opportunities for the year. They look at what each speech does for the company business goals. The CEO ‘s Plan runs to over 50 pages. Five linked Excel spreadsheets track and report metrics. It is not just a laundry list, it’s a way to quantify where efforts are spent. Simple Shared Outlook Calendars let people aggregate speaking engagements and make sure that there are not, say, five speeches in Miami where no-one has spoken in Seattle for two years.

A 1-page checklist for each speech is stapled to the inside of the working file.

Clark S. Judge: Opening Keynote – Your client is not a speaker! You are not a speechwriter!

Clark S. Judge is managing director of the White House Writers Group. This group of two dozen communications professionals shares one thing in common — they’ve all worked for Republicans. The West Wing Writers, on the other hand, are staffed with freelance Democrats.

Judge was a speechwriter in the West Wing during the Bush/Reagan years. After two-and-a-half years serving Vice President Bush, he joined President Reagan’s speechwriting staff in 1986 and remained with Mr. Reagan through the end of his term. A member of the Moscow Summit speechwriting team, he was also the lead writer for the Toronto Economic Summit in 1988 and helped shape the White House approach to the 1988 presidential campaign. He’s proud of helping these leaders speak to the world about freedom, bringing market forces to the world and reducing the threat of nuclear war by ending the influence of the Soviet Union. As Managing Director of the White House Writers Group, Clark Judge provides strategic communications counsel to clients in industries ranging from financial services to transportation to high technology.

He offered the conference his strategic counsel, asking us to see and perform our work through a different lens and see a bigger picture.

We know the drill: The speaking requests come in. The speeches get written. The speaker delivers them. And everybody gets paid. What’s wrong with that? It’s not satisfying to the speaker, it’s not interesting to the writer and, generally speaking, it’s not effective for the organization.

“Speech making is part of a CEO’s job,� Judge says. “Clarity is part of leadership.�

A strategic viewpoint is important for speechwriters who want to become the director of corporate clarity. Speechwriters have a unique overview of every aspect of an organization.

US Presidents deliver speeches in different musical styles. Reagan was symphonic. Bush 1 was rock n’ roll. Clinton was improvisational jazz – brilliant riffs which sometimes clashed. Bush 2 is country music. Reagan had tremendous sensitivity to language. Bush 1 had respect for his audience. He did not want his speech cards to weigh too much. He’d ask “why are we doing this event, anyway?� Speechwriters hear this question a lot. It’s one we should take seriously. It raises questions about our role as speech advisors and causes us to ask if the speaker is carrying a message to an audience who matters?

The three aspects of a strategic speechwriters role:

Integration of the message into whole scope of messaging. Ask: does the work we do contribute to larger purpose of company?

Negotiation involves communicating. When an executive talks to Wall St, customers, or employees they carry a core set of messages. These must be integrated with advertising, other executives’ messages, and so on. The more you integrate the speech with broader messaging the more powerful it is. This begins to answer question Why are we doing this event anyway?

Integrity Words become powerful when they are used with integrity. Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wallâ€? was drafted by speechwriter Peter Robison who went to Berlin on an advance trip, where the US Embassy advised he not mention the wall. At dinner ordinary Berliners told him personal stories about living with the wall. The hostess for the evening said if the Russians were serious about perestroika they’d tear down the wall. First drafts of speech included this — against the wishes of the State Department. Reagan demonstrated integrity when he used it. “The boys at State are going to kill me for this but it stays in.â€?

Initiative Demonstrated by speechwriter who has unique license to go around the company and demonstrate leadership.

Coaching tip: Corporate executives are already have skills in extemporaneous speaking. They’ve had to sell in one form or another and can persuade and communicate on the fly. Working with a prepared text or presentation is totally different: it requires they have the discipline to rehearse so they master the text. They can then move on to a state where they’re comfortable enough to sell the message of the text. This knowledge will start to come across in their delivery.

Interesting post from Jane on the value of blogging in establishing a personal brand for old-media types wanting to break into the new world of social media:

Start a blog with Typepad.com. It only costs five bucks monthly and, again, gets you into new space. Progress on the learning curve takes about three months but, not to worry, you have a survival job or two, right. Having a blog is the new cost of entry. And while you’re blogging your heart out, learn about bells and whistles such as video feeds and digital photos. Will this be exhausting? Yes, the new economy hath murdered sleep.

Some might find that the advice to journalists and speechwriters also applies to old-school public speakers and seminar leaders who limit their activity to face-to-face presentations to live audiences and don’t leverage their content with blogs, video feeds, DVD’s, CD’s and other ways to broker knowledge in a digital world.

I was given permission by Clinton White House speechwriter Vinca LaFleur to post her article on President Bush’s State of the Union Speech. LaFleur was special assistant and foreign policy speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and wrote scores of speeches for the president and his national security advisors. It’s an honor to have her as a guest on my blog.

Her comments form an interesting contrast with those of Communications expert Bert Decker, who takes a far more positive view of Bush’s speech, which he evaluates in terms of body language, mannerisms and behavior as well as content.

It’s not surprising that people can disagree over the impact of a political speech. Pollsters report that there was an even split in the country, half the people liked the speech, half didn’t. Speechwriters and communications coaches are people too.

Here’s Ms. LaFleur’s view:

A Speechwriter’s Take on the Speech
By Vinca LaFleur

As someone who has labored to meet tough deadlines and satisfy tough audiences myself, I sympathize with the task the White House speechwriters faced with this year’s State of the Union. Drafting this annual address to Congress is rarely an enjoyable exercise; my former Clinton administration colleague Michael Waldman once described it as boiling down “gallons of advice into a few tablespoons of intense sauce,� while former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson reportedly dubbed the process the “seven-day death march.�

This year, however, the White House speechwriting team faced an exceptionally difficult task.

With President Bush’s approval rating at an all-time low, an emboldened Democratic majority in Congress, and the inescapable backdrop of carnage in Iraq, many critics had concluded the speech would flop well before the president stepped to the podium.

The White House had tried to generate interest by promising a new and improved address – one that would focus on a few broad themes, not a lengthy list of initiatives. Yet, given President Bush’s lack of trust among Democrats and shrinking confidence and support among Republicans, he never had the political capital to propose a far-reaching agenda. Indeed, as spokesman Tony Snow admitted, part of the impulse behind the new formula was that the White House “want[ed] people to watch� – suggesting they feared the electorate was already turned off and tuning out.

The president’s pens were thus multiply challenged in making their boss look good. It wasn’t within their power to turn small steps on domestic policy into giant leaps for mankind; nor could they reorient the president’s wildly unpopular position on Iraq. But they were the ones who would find the words with which the policies were presented, the ones who would articulate the arguments and bring the benefits of action to life.

Unfortunately, words failed them.

First, the president’s speech lacked a narrative structure to draw listeners in and along. The first part of the address half-heartedly employed the promise of a “future of hope and opportunity� to stitch its key points together, but that framework was jettisoned as soon as the president made the pivot to foreign policy. This was an odd decision, since winning what Bush calls a “decisive ideological struggle� presumably is essential to our nation’s hopeful future as well. By abandoning the phrase, however hackneyed it might have been, the speech’s authors undermined whatever impact it might have had – and lost a chance to connect the end of the address to the beginning.

In contrast, Senator Jim Webb, in the Democratic response, made clear at the outset that he intended to explain the differences between the parties on two key issues – the economy and Iraq – and his speech proceeded to do just that, up to and including its dramatic conclusion.

Second, the drafters missed opportunities to humanize the speech. People connect with people, not policies, yet even on issues like education and health care that lend themselves to real-life success stories, the president spoke primarily in dry terms and generalities. When compared to Senator Webb, who so effectively wove his family’s story of service and sacrifice into his remarks, President Bush’s address had a compulsory feel, as if it was an exercise he had to get through instead of a set of exciting ideas he cared about getting across.

Finally, though the White House wisely resisted excess rhetorical flourish, the final text was more flat than fireside chat, bereft of compelling images or descriptions. President Bush’s supporters have praised his preference for plainspoken language, but excising anecdotes, allusions, and poetry from a speech does not automatically make it forceful; to the contrary, as Mark Oppenheimer recently argued in the Wall Street Journal, “The best speeches…depend for their power on the ability to strike chords that already exist within us.�

Once again, the contrast with Senator Webb’s performance was stark. Despite the Senator’s inherent disadvantage of speaking before a television camera instead of a live audience, he was able to convey more personal intensity and engage more directly with his listeners by using language that was straightforward but not simplistic, and drawing effectively on history, quotations, and rhetorical devices to drive his arguments home.

Thus, for the first time in history, the response to the State of the Union was far superior to the speech itself. But in fairness to President Bush’s speechwriting team, the substance and style of his national address were undoubtedly set from the top. The speechwriters wouldn’t have gotten the credit if the president’s speech had been a smash, and they are not the ones who should be blamed for its shortcomings. A successful State of the Union address is always more than words.

Great speeches, as any speechwriter knows, depend on great ideas. That is why, despite the gracious nod to Speaker Pelosi at the start, and the uplifting stories of American heroism at the end, this State of the Union fell short on eloquence and failed to inspire enthusiasm.

Vinca LaFleur was Director for Speechwriting and Special Assistant to President Clinton. She now runs Vinca LaFleur Communications, an executive speechwriting firm in Washington, D.C.

First, a disclaimer. Cingular is a wonderfully reliable cell phone provider. Our 4-line family plan is a bargain and I have absolutely no complaints about the service. That said, pity the poor CEO of Cingular, Stan Sigman, who discovered to his cost at the recent MacWorld in San Francisco that Steve Jobs is a hard act to follow.

Within a day of the Jobs keynote, communications blogs exploded with an analysis of the failure of the Cingular CEO to come up to the mark during his time on the podium.

First, blogger Seth Godin posted a scathing report which called attention to the speaker’s failings in both style and content (or soul and substance):

Stan sure could use some help. He’s dressed all wrong. Not buttoned down enough to be a CEO, not casual enough for the Valley. And his jacket fits funny. Sort of like he’s at his son-in-law’s second wedding.

Stan gives his talk from 3 x5 index cards, which he holds awkwardly on stage. And he doesn’t really say anything.

This was picked up by the Dale Carnegie Training Center blog which posted the YouTube video and let us see for ourselves what Sigman does that stands in stark contrast to Jobs:

Sigman enters 4:30 into the clip above.

The Dale Carnegie folks place the blame at the feet of the communications team at Cingular who advised their CEO (the Executive Communications team that is, not the guys who give us dial-tone):

Who advised Stan? Here is where they should have been:

Use a teleprompter or earpiece.

Practice, practice, practice.

Talk to the lawyers again, there must be a better way.

Practice

Don’t say it at all. Give us your heart and enthusiasm then sit down. Leave the rest for the press release.

I hope Stan is surrounding himself with people that can be honest with him. This is another testament on how critical presenting yourself is in business.

Next, Garr Reynolds picked up the story, and drew a telling contrast between the Cingular CEO and Jobs, Google’s CEO, Dr. Eric Schmidt, and Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. A picture gallery shows the contrast:

Reynolds suggests it’s the use of the notecards that scuppered the talk. I disagree. In my stint as Scott McNealy’s speechwriter, I created bullet-point notecards for Scott to use onstage. He was relaxed and confident using them. Indeed, he relished using them as a prop in Tonight Show-style “Top 10 List” gags that the audience loved. He’d toss the notecards aside accompanied by goofy sound-effects:

Some speakers clutch the slide clicker as a security blanket, others grab onto a pen or a pointer as an outlet for nervous tension. Notecards in and of themselves are not the problem, inadequate preparation and coaching in their use is.

Notice, by the way, that we provided Scott pale blue notecards which show up better on camera. The Cingular team gave their man the bright white ones that cause glare.

As Reynolds concludes, we can all learn from Stan Sigman’s mistakes:

My only point in highlighting his short speech was to show what the rest of us must never ever do. Like it or not, our customers, employees, and colleagues judge us in part on our ability to stand and deliver a successful talk. Stan Sigman’s performance was a wonderful textbook example of what not to do. We must find our own voice and our own style, of course, but we must never make the same mistakes made by Mr. Sigman.

Finally, Bert Decker contrasts Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech with the content we’ve discussed above. This is a low blow. We’d all come off the worse for comparison with the great orators. However, Bert is right on when he says it is to the world-class speakers we need to look for inspiration.

That, and a good speech coach, can make all the difference. And thinking twice before you follow Steve Jobs onstage.