Hallmark know all about effective messaging.

The process of creating a card for Valentine’s Day — the industry’s second most popular holiday, behind Christmas — can begin up to two years before it finds its way to a loved one’s hands. An 80-person research staff’s analysis of Hallmark’s 2004 card sales was the initial impetus for this year’s line. That combines with more than 100,000 annual customer interviews, focus groups and in-store observations to lay the framework for roughly 2,000 cards in Hallmark’s core Valentine’s Day line as well as another 2,500 offerings through sister brands offered at supermarkets, Wal-Mart and elsewhere.

Writers and artists and others at the company say everything they do is aimed at helping a consumer express a sentiment. That, of course, translates to sales.

I wonder what would happen if corporate communications staff and speechwriters put as much effort into the content of their next presentation? Executives might be able to make the audience fall in love with what they have say. Or, at the very least, make their hearts beat a little faster…

Disclaimer: I work as a corporate speechwriter in a Silicon Valley high technology company. Most of the ‘speeches’ I write are a series of Power Point slides with speaking notes.

Given that perspective, here’s what I took away from the conference, and some suggestions on ways it might be improved in future.

Demographics: Baby boomer’s don’t retire, they just do freelance speechwriting

There were 250 registered attendees, and it looked like about 60% were male with a predominance of Boomer graybeards. More than one person commented that speechwriting was a ‘senior job’ and CEO’s want someone with experience they can trust. However, my colleague Russell had a conversation with the speechwriter for GM’s CEO who was a woman in her 20’s.

Question: what happens when this current generation of speechwriters retires?

Another question: what age are the speechwriters who support CEO’s like Sergey and Larry at Google? Do guys in their 20’s and 30’s running companies want someone writing their speeches who is old enough to be their father?

The attendees were overwhelmingly from North America. I met two women from The Netherlands and heard a couple of British accents but perhaps, like me, they live here.

Speechwriters: In love with the past, or looking to the future?

The graybeards love classical rhetoric. Many quoted Lincoln, FDR, JFK, MLK, Shakespeare, Robert Green Ingersoll and so on. It’s ironic that few of these masterful orators actually used the services of a speechwriter.

When the next generation of speechwriters comes along will they still look to the past for inspiration? Or will they look forward to messages that are crafted for an age of fragmented media?

Many of the “Greatsâ€? delivered speeches that were absorbed by an audience at one time (in Ingersoll’s case often two or more hours at one sitting). But who would listen to a two hour speech these days? How will messages be received in the future? Will we see more asynchronous communication via blogs, podcasts, streaming media archives? What will be the best way to achieve mind- and market-share with an audience that turns on, tunes in, tunes out, turns off? What do you write for an audience with one hand on the remote? When the keywords you meta-tag your transcripts with bring more web-surfers to the soundbites – what matters the rhetoric? (he asked rhetorically)

Ragan: The shoe-makers children?

Since much of the actual content of the presentations can be found in the many excellent books on the craft of speechwriting at your local Barnes & Nobel for $20, why pay $895 for a conference? And if you do pay that, do you have a right to expect a flawlessly run event? My minor quibbles include:

On the positive side:

But I did find it embarrassing that some of the presenters were unable to practice what they preached in terms of rhetoric and speech delivery.

Whither speechifying?

Unlike dramatic shifts in the worlds of the music, art and literature there seems to have been no sea-change in effective rhetoric since the nineteenth century. When a speaker from the 1880’s is held up as an example to study, and speeches form Shakespeare are quoted with relish, whither speechifying?

Modern writers must deal with the novel after Joyce and the poem after Ginsberg. Contemporary Artists must paint in a world turned upside down by Impressionism, Cubism and later movements. In the time Ingersoll was speaking, The Academy was refusing to exhibit Manet and since then the establishment has banned works ranging from Lady Chatterly to Howl.

What paradigm shifts have we seen in the world of the public speaker? Why are we still recommending that speakers “Tell ’em what you’ll tell ’em; tell ’em and then tell ’em what you told ’em”. Is anyone listening any more?

I’d like a future Ragan conference to bring in the rap singers, greeting card sloganeer’s, comedy writers, Hollywood script-meister’s, advertising executives, graffiti taggers, punks and poets who know how to create messages with impact.

I’d like future conferences to feature presentations by people whose first language isn’t American English. Let’s hear from Japanese, Thai, Indian, European, Australian and Fijian speechwriters. Let’s especially hear from those British political speechwriters who cut their teeth on Prime Minister’s Question Time!

I’d like to hear presentations on what it’s like to write a speech for the generals in Iraq; a political speech in both the Red and Blue States; for NGO’s like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. I’d like to hear from a Toastmaster Champion and the best the National Speakers Association has to offer.

One great visionary who knows that communication ‘business as usual’ does not work anymore is the Wizard of Ads, Roy H. Williams. His Monday Morning Memo recently asked us to create speeches:

[Find and replace used to customize ‘advertising’ for ‘speechwriting’]

Monsoon Wedding Eulogy

Since much of what I prepare in my day job is delivered by senior executives who I enjoy close contact with, I feel safe from offshoring. At least, I did until I reached page 31 of The World is Flat on the plane ride home:

Friedman says that where most of the research can be gleaned off the web and summarized in a standard format then the speechwriter who only offers this amount of value to an organization is ripe for offshoring… (gulp!).

Let’s invite someone from Brickworks to the next conference – before they replace us all…

As with any conference, you don’t just go for the formal presentations — it’s the conversations with fellow delegates that make the trip worthwhile. Where else on the planet would I be in a room with 250 people who all, more or less, do the same job? I met some great folks.

Vinca runs an independent consulting operation in the DC area. She really did work in the West Wing – writing President Clinton’s foreign policy speeches. Traveling on Air Force One, heads down over her laptop, she wrote his November 1995 speeches given in Derry and Belfast, Northern Ireland. There’s still work for Democrats who write speeches in DC, just not in the West Wing at the moment.

Kathryn works for a Silicon Valley High Tech company where she’s the only writer supporting 13 executives. She also finds time to use her own speaking skills, developed as a member of the National Speakers Association, by offering presentation skills classes to the staff. She asks her students to consider the two key questions all audience members ask when a speaker starts a presentation:

1. Should I stick around? Not just literally, but if you don’t grab their attention in the first six minutes of a speech they will check out. Thoughts about the laundry, shopping or the cutie in accounting with the winsome smile will occupy their attention, not whatever it is you are saying.

2. So What? Meaning, what’s in it for me? If you don’t answer this question every time before moving onto a new topic (or a new PowerPoint slide) you will have lost some or all of the audience. A good few of the presenters at this conference omitted the ‘So What?’ in their presentations.

Colin has a web site that helps freelance speechwriters find work. He offers a free eZine and bonus marketing workbook. Maybe he’ll start a blog one day soon?

Damien is a lobbyist for the American Insurance Association. He writes for the ex-Governor of Wyoming who now runs the place. His main challenge is frosting the road apple of his subject matter. No matter which way you spin it, commercial insurance is plain old BORING.

I had conversations with a whole number of other people whose names I don’t remember. But the variety was impressive:

And last but not least:

All in all, the conference attracted writers with a love of the spoken word rather than speakers with an interest in the written word. Bookish intellectuals rather than the extrovert glad-hander’s at speaking conferences. People were willing to share the tools of their trade and had a contagious enthusiasm for their craft.

I’ll share more of my overall impressions of the conference in my next posting.

The third and final day of the Conference. As always at these events, my brain has reached overload by this point. Here’s my ‘class notes’ from the sessions I attended Friday. I’ll write up my subjective impressions and report on hallway conversations and networking on the flight home.

Breakfast Panel What’s going on in the speechwriting world?

Panelists:

David Murray, editor, Speechwriters Newsletter
Rich Greb, facilitator, Chicago Speechwriters Forum
Jan Cook, founder, Washington Speechwriters Roundtable
Dana Rubin, founder, New York Speechwriters Group

Warning! We’ve been outed! Thanks to Rob Lowe and the West Wing, people know about speechwriters – we’re more visible now than ever. But speeches are not going away and blogs will never replace speeches (according to David Murray). That said, here’s my blog on the main points I captured from the free flowing early morning panel discussion and audience Q&A:

Steve described the process whereby he leveraged transformations at UPS (such as district managers renewing their focus on customer service, or the move to the company being an enabler of the global supply chain) into effective messaging. His guiding objective is to

Position UPS executives as thought leaders and powerful brand ambassadors through public speeches, events, by-lined articles, Op-Eds, White Papers and other repackaging channels.

In other words: find the downstream potential in each and every speech – maximize every second of the executives time at a venue beyond what they say on the podium – turn ‘delivering a speech’ into an event rich with possibilities that gives the speech content extra bounce. Schedule meetings with press, key customers, analysts. Place senior managers closer to key stakeholders.

The strategy of Steve’s Exec Comm Department includes:

They sweat the details by:

A huge win for Steve was when Thomas Friedman was researching The World is Flat and happened to Google the phrase synchronized commerce. Friedman found dozens of references to past UPS speeches that had been repackaged by Steve’s team, as this example illustrates. Friedman dedicates a section of his book to UPS, identifying them as his #8 world-flattener in a section titled What Those Guys in the Funny Brown Shorts Are Really Doing. As Steve dryly observed, you can’t buy that kind of PR. And it all began with the simple process of making the transcripts of executive speeches available online and searchable outside the firewall. Does your company do this?

Steve produces an annual $1million event which brings world-class political leaders such as Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, President H.W. Bush, President Carter and Polish leader Vaclav Havlal together with academics and CEO’s from major customers. This is co-branded with the prestigious Harvard Business School Publishing. Very little on the Agenda overtly  ‘sells’ UPS. The goal is to stimulate dialog and debate around issues such as globalization. Funding future events is secured by the measurable $25 million incremental revenue which resulted from past events.

By positioning his team at the intersection of creativity and strategy Steve has earned a seat at the table when senior management  frames the future of the company.

Steve is to the average speechwriter what an army general is to an infantry grunt. He plans the campaign and grabs victories from the jaws of defeat. The rest of us dig foxholes and practice duck and cover when the corporate big guns fire. (Hey! I needed a coupla good military analogies being so close to the home of the Commander in Chief, n’ all)

Hal Gordon What speechwriters can learn from a great American orator – Robert Green Ingersoll

Hal is a freelance speechwriter who currently writes for Shell Oil in Houston and blogs for Ragan Communications. He’s written for both the Walt Disney World and top advisors to President Ronald Reagan (from Mickey Mouse to Ed Meese). His blog explains all about Ingersoll. Ingersoll’s best speeches show him a masterful orator and a fiercely intelligent and independent thinker. He openly wore the badge of his atheism – which in 19th Century America got him into about as much trouble as it would in some corners of the Heartland today. This speech on Chinese exclusion masterfully skewers the limited horizons and profound lack of cultural understanding in the USA. As then, perhaps now:

There’s a lot more where this came from here. Read it and weep.

Dawne Simmons From speechwriter to speaker: What you can learn by taking the podium

Dawne walks the walk and talks the talk. One of the rare breed of speechwriters who also know how to speak in public. She’s a dynamic independent consultant who participates in National Speakers Association trainings.

Her claim, which I fully agree with, is that by mastering the art of public speaking you learn to do what you are asking those you write for to do. You step away from the computer monitor and leap the divide that’s represented by the truism: Those who can, do, those who can’t, write about it… 

Indeed, I have often wondered how many authors of sex manuals are actually great lovers? How many cookbook editors can create a meal that would actually delight the palette? Do the editors of travel guides really enjoy exploring foreign parts? Speechwriters might be able to describe the motions, but not until they’ve assumed the position and engaged in the act with an appreciative audience can they really understand what it takes to get it up. Speaking to an audience is an act of seduction. If you’ve not experienced the sweat on your palms and the palpitations of the heart as you present your naked voice to an audience for the first time then in some real sense you are still a callow virgin.  Writing text, even if you annotate with pointers for techniques and timing, is not the same as participating in an uncensored relationship with consenting adults.

So, where was I. Oh yes, Dawne’s class. She challenged the audience face up their fear. Toastmasters is a great place to start. There’s a club meeting near you this week, guaranteed. Being both a writer and a speaker advanced Dawne’s career. Public speaking changed from a stumbling block to a stepping stone for success. Bottom line:

Practice both speaking and speech writing, they go together like a left and right shoe!

Bill Crain Speechwriting (fun)damentals: How to wow audiences and win business

Bill is an independent consultant who writes for ExxonMobile and was recently hired as a speechwriter for the government of Thailand. By the  afternoon the crowd had thinned out and I was just about to do the same . But I’m glad I stayed for this post-conference seminar. It was filled with more practical tips and tricks than  rest of the conference put together. Bill provided a great handout with step by step checklists:

He included a bonus selection of samples from commercial speeches he had written and extracts from well-known speeches by Martin Luther King, Churchill and Shakespeare.

Bill’s work pushes the envelope when he looks at major factors reshaping speechwriting today, including those of globalization and the shift in the geo-political axis toward Asia which he and I agree is changing the form of acceptable business communication. He also acknowledges discoveries in quantum physics and human potential psychology as relevant factors. His most unique views are around suggesting meditation as a practice to unlock creativity and the power of the still quiet voice within. He has studied the Sanskrit chakra system used in Indian ayurvedic medicine and suggests the relevance of different chakras to speechwriting. Considering the ascent of the chakras from  bodily base to crown he interprets the color and quality of each for a speechwriter, suggesting we review each speech to ensure it includes at least a reference to each element.

Specifically:

The root of the body at the base of the spine is associated with the color red and signifies the family, health and issues of physical survival. For speechwriters: how does your topic pertain to the family and to human health and safety?.

The sacral area of the body and sexual organs associated with the color orange signifies sex, power and money. For speechwriters: how does your topic affect men and women differently? What are the political and economic aspects? (I would add – does the speech turn your audience on?)

The solar plexus and diaphragm associated with the color yellow signifies ethics, integrity and personal will. For speechwriters: what are the ethical dimensions of this topic?

The heart, chest, lungs associated with the color green signfies love, compassion and kindness. For speechwriters: to what extent is there an emotional dimension to your topic? To what extent is compassion called for? (I would add, unless your audience are automatons you must appeal to their hearts – since they can only comprehend with their head what their hearts have responded to on some level).

The throat, ears, nose, teeth associated with the color blue signifies personal expression and communication. For speechwriters: what are the communication challenges in your topic? What is essential for the speaker to communicate? (I would add a big DUH! You better communicate throughout the speech.)

I was intrigued by Bill’s groundbreaking work here. I’ve not heard of the chakra system being applied to business communications. And I assume that if Bill had more time he would have included the all important final two chakras:

The brow chakra or third eye center, associated with the color indigo signifies the act of seeing, both physically and intuitively. As such it opens our psychic faculties and our understanding of archetypal levels. When healthy it allows us to see clearly, in effect, letting us “see the big picture.” For speechwriters: to what extent does your speech deal with the big picture?

The crown chakra sitting on or above the physical top of the head. Associated the color violet. It relates to consciousness as pure awareness. It is our connection to the greater world beyond, to a timeless, spaceless place of all-knowing. When developed, this chakra brings us knowledge, wisdom, understanding, spiritual connection, and bliss. For speechwriters: to what extent does anything in your speech really mean a damn in the big scheme of things?

Thanks Bill, you’ve given me a whole raft of ideas: Feng Shui for Speechwriters; Speechwriting Zen (the companion to Presentation Zen); The Inner Game of Speechwriting, and more.

Michael Lee suggested that, since professional speakers can only charge fees that their self-esteem can bear, ProTrackers consider taking a confidence test.

I’ve just spent 15 minutes in an attempt to find a ‘Confidence’ test on this site. In my opinion, there isn’t one.

Here’s what I *did* find:

[1] The site required you create a user account at no charge.
[2] You are then presented with different categories for tests (relationships, personality, health, career). Many require you purchase a number of ‘Credits’ at a cost of $2.95 each (most tests are 2-7 credits) or pay a $14 flat monthly fee. However, there are ‘Abridged’ tests available at no charge.
[3] There are 225 tests in total. A search for ‘confidence’ did not return results, but I did find an abridged (i.e Free) ‘Assertiveness test’. This asked a list of rather obvious questions such as:

After answering 10 questions I was given a score of 78 out of 100 and a brief reading:

Ho hum….

Be interested to hear from anyone who ponies up $$ for the full monty and how the test results impress you – it maybe that, as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. Or it may be that, as was said by H.L. Mencken, no web site in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of plain people.

I think I can say that with confidence.

Saturday found over 30 prospective and current members of the National Speakers Association (NSA) at the kick-off the year-long Pro Track training program: “Taking Emerging Speakers to the Next Level”.

We’ll meet once a month for a boot camp of basic training in the techniques and business of the professional speaker.

The Dean of the program is a 20-year veteran of pro-speaking: Michael Lee

Michael, a 5th generation Asian-American, was dragged kicking and screaming into his niche market: delivering seminars, training, consulting and coaching on how to sell more products and services to the multicultural market in America (mainly to Realtors and Auto salespeople).

Embodying the true spirit of NSA founder Cavett Robert, Michael is giving freely of both his time and his ‘trade secrets’ by coordinating the program every month (giving up a valuable day which he could spend at home with his family – no small matter for a guy who spends 90+ days in hotel rooms, from Racine to Rochester).

We heard from a graduate of the 2005 Pro Track training, Cynthia Beck, who is about to launch her first book — written as a direct result of the information she picked up in the program. Cynthia’s tips for success included showing up for meetings and fully participating – something she did last year, despite fighting mononucleosis and caring for a sick child!

The bulk of the first day was spent watching all 30 of us, one by one, delivered our 3 minute elevator pitch to introduce ourselves and share what we wanted out of the program. This was videotaped:

I was amazed at the range of expertise and backgrounds in the room. We had Realtors and retirees; sociologists and swim coaches; conversational theorists and Italians who conversed with gestures; the daughters of Toastmasters and the sons of Chemical Recycling Plant owners, not to mention the great-grand-daughters of former slaves (no-one confessed to being the great-grandson of former slaves owners, but Dr. Martin Luther King ‘s dream was alive in the room); workaholics and writing coaches; ex-Playboy Bunnies and ex-ski instructors (one stoked the slopes the other stroked the folks). Some lived down the road in Redwood City or San Francisco, others had driven from Sacramento and Fresno. One crossed state lines from Carson City, Nevada.

It’ll be a fascinating year getting to know these folks and be a part of the process of discovering the opportunities and overcoming the obstacles to becoming a professional speaker.

Factoids:

Notable quotes:

“Lack of income is the biggest obstacle to making the transition to full-time professional speaking”
“You can only charge what your self-esteem will bear”
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
“Your niche is not a topic but an identifiable group of people who want to hear what you have to say”

I’m in a large conference room in a hotel just south of SFO with 85 National Speakers Association members about to experience “Open Space Technology” for the first time.

The meeting has just begun, and inside a large circle of chairs, the facilitator Ric Giardina is slowly walking the perimeter of the room making eye contact with each person, promising us that “whatever happens is the only thing that could happen”. This Zen-like statement is followed by others, such as “Whoever shows up are the right people” and “When it’s over it’s over”.

Luckily, these ‘technology’ behind these platitudes is quickly explained in very concrete, practical terms.

What is Open Space?

How Does Open Space Work?

This is exactly what happened on Saturday. Those who jumped to the center instantly became conveners and wrote down their topics:

The topics were posted on the wall, centered on the theme ‘Taking My Speaking Career Where I want to Go”

All part of the village marketplace of meetings about to happen, or not (if no-one chose to attend):

Ric made another few circuits of the room asking anyone thinking “why hasn’t anyone written down the issue I really want to see discussed” to get into the center and create a poster for that topic.

The results:

I spent Saturday at the NSA/NC chapter meeting. Over 85 people attended. As always, a fascinating array of people – the big wheels of Public Speaking such as Patricia Fripp and National NSA President Rick Jakle – mingled with first timers. A large number of potential members were there. They’ve signed on for the year-long Pro-Track training that starts next week. I’ll be blogging about my experience throughout the year as I attend Pro-Track and learn the secrets of the professional speaking business.

I talked with a couple of people on Saturday who completed the 2005 Pro-Track and had found that it changed their lives. One completed the book she had been meaning to write for four years. Another began holding the first training seminars that were to be the foundation of his full-time business. If Pro-Track lives up to the promises made it should be a worthwhile investment of my time (one full-day meeting per month with project work between times).

The main part of the Chapter meeting was an exploration of Open Space Technology. I’d tried to prepare for this by going online to check out the reference we were given. Maybe I’ve been in high-tech for too long – I was looking for ‘technology’ to do with virtual meetings, shared white-boards or other devices to facilitate distance learning. I could not have been more mistaken. Open Space is very much about face-to-face interaction where everyone participates to the extent they wish and must ‘prepare to be surprised’. I was certainly surprised by the experience. I’ll write about this in my next posting….