If My Clients Weren't Already Perfect....
If my clients weren't already perfect, I would offer them the following 15 pieces of advice to make our experience just that much better.
1. Call me in early on in the process. In fact, I am the first person you should call once you decide to commit to a speech engagement.
2. Know why you or your speaker has taken on this commitment. And I don't just mean because he/she was invited, or always does this once a year. I will want to dig down for better motivation than this.
3. Get me access to your speaker. This is not a deal breaker but common sense says that speaker and speech writer should get to know each other. There is an exception to this rule. If clients haven't given the speech much thought - as is often the case - and aren't yet prepared to do so - it may be better to give them something - a draft - to react against and go from there.
4. I will do a lot of research on my own, but it would help me immensely if you point me in the right direction if that direction isn't obvious at first blush.
5. Conversely, don't bury me in totally unfiltered material.
6. Be honest with me about how comfortable you (or your speakers) are on the public stage.
7. Be warned, I am going to ask for stories. I don't care what the occasion or venue is. All speeches are made better if they are couched in stories of our common human condition.
8. Don't get me involved in office politics but warn me if they are in play. And if it is a secret you are hiring me, let me know so I can position my inquiries for information accordingly.
9. This one is the deal breaker. Know the message (read singular) you want to deliver. I am happy to walk you through the process - we can work on messaging together. But we have to agree on what the messaging is or it will all end in tears. Hint: Understand there are internal needs and audience needs. I always want to concern myself with the latter; you can take care of the former.
10. I will try to talk you out of Power Point. It is rare to see a good speaker's speech made better with Power Point but often the case that a poor speaker will be worse off with slides. If we do go there, let's make sure we do the speech first, the PP slides second.
11. Don't call me in to a lot of staff meetings. While these can be very useful for the in-house speech writer who needs to be aware of ongoing political and policy shifts over time - as a freelancer I have to be much more single-minded. That said, it is often more useful for me to meet your front line people than your staff or policy people. I want to know what your customers/constituents are thinking.
12. Point 1 notwithstanding you can call me in at the last minute. If you are a steady client, you should have an expectation that I will be available for "emergency" speeches. I never said I wanted a balanced life.
13. Recognize that if you tinker with the phrasing of one sentence you are going to change the rhythm and balance of the sentences preceding and following. So if you are going to tinker - tinker out loud.
14. Don't circulate an outline for comment by every department head. We will just end up with a kitchen sink. Better still, don't even write an outline for me. They are not conducive to good speech writing.
15. You shouldn't have to hold my hand. Tell me what you want done, a few stories, and the message. And I will toddle off, stay out of your hair and deliver a product on time and on budget. And if we have worked well together, there should be minimal re-writing of the first draft.
And that's just for starters!
For a full thrashing out of some of these and other points, if you are at loose ends this weekend and live in Vancouver, I am holding an all day workshop on Saturday, May 21, 2005. More info in the next item down.
Speech Writing Workshop In Vancouver, BC Set for May 21, 2005.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn more about the art and craft of speech writing?
The speech writing workshop I mentioned in my last newsletter is now set for all day Saturday, May 21, 2005 in downtown Vancouver.
This is not a writing class per se, but will cover the issues you must concern yourself with when a client calls you and says "We Need A Speech." This one day workshop will get you to the point where you can feel confident that you can say "yes" to such a request.
The course is beginning to fill up. If you are interested drop me a line here and I will send you course details, price and registration information.
1. Call me in early on in the process. In fact, I am the first person you should call once you decide to commit to a speech engagement.
2. Know why you or your speaker has taken on this commitment. And I don't just mean because he/she was invited, or always does this once a year. I will want to dig down for better motivation than this.
3. Get me access to your speaker. This is not a deal breaker but common sense says that speaker and speech writer should get to know each other. There is an exception to this rule. If clients haven't given the speech much thought - as is often the case - and aren't yet prepared to do so - it may be better to give them something - a draft - to react against and go from there.
4. I will do a lot of research on my own, but it would help me immensely if you point me in the right direction if that direction isn't obvious at first blush.
5. Conversely, don't bury me in totally unfiltered material.
6. Be honest with me about how comfortable you (or your speakers) are on the public stage.
7. Be warned, I am going to ask for stories. I don't care what the occasion or venue is. All speeches are made better if they are couched in stories of our common human condition.
8. Don't get me involved in office politics but warn me if they are in play. And if it is a secret you are hiring me, let me know so I can position my inquiries for information accordingly.
9. This one is the deal breaker. Know the message (read singular) you want to deliver. I am happy to walk you through the process - we can work on messaging together. But we have to agree on what the messaging is or it will all end in tears. Hint: Understand there are internal needs and audience needs. I always want to concern myself with the latter; you can take care of the former.
10. I will try to talk you out of Power Point. It is rare to see a good speaker's speech made better with Power Point but often the case that a poor speaker will be worse off with slides. If we do go there, let's make sure we do the speech first, the PP slides second.
11. Don't call me in to a lot of staff meetings. While these can be very useful for the in-house speech writer who needs to be aware of ongoing political and policy shifts over time - as a freelancer I have to be much more single-minded. That said, it is often more useful for me to meet your front line people than your staff or policy people. I want to know what your customers/constituents are thinking.
12. Point 1 notwithstanding you can call me in at the last minute. If you are a steady client, you should have an expectation that I will be available for "emergency" speeches. I never said I wanted a balanced life.
13. Recognize that if you tinker with the phrasing of one sentence you are going to change the rhythm and balance of the sentences preceding and following. So if you are going to tinker - tinker out loud.
14. Don't circulate an outline for comment by every department head. We will just end up with a kitchen sink. Better still, don't even write an outline for me. They are not conducive to good speech writing.
15. You shouldn't have to hold my hand. Tell me what you want done, a few stories, and the message. And I will toddle off, stay out of your hair and deliver a product on time and on budget. And if we have worked well together, there should be minimal re-writing of the first draft.
And that's just for starters!
For a full thrashing out of some of these and other points, if you are at loose ends this weekend and live in Vancouver, I am holding an all day workshop on Saturday, May 21, 2005. More info in the next item down.
Speech Writing Workshop In Vancouver, BC Set for May 21, 2005.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn more about the art and craft of speech writing?
The speech writing workshop I mentioned in my last newsletter is now set for all day Saturday, May 21, 2005 in downtown Vancouver.
This is not a writing class per se, but will cover the issues you must concern yourself with when a client calls you and says "We Need A Speech." This one day workshop will get you to the point where you can feel confident that you can say "yes" to such a request.
The course is beginning to fill up. If you are interested drop me a line here and I will send you course details, price and registration information.
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6:48 PM
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