Preparing To Write Great Executive Speeches

This is not a post about how to write great executive speeches; it’s a post about preparing to write great executive speeches.

There are several things you need to do before you can actually begin writing.

Herewith:

1. Immerse Yourself in The Culture

Know more about their company than they expect you to know (which is a lot). Writing for the corporate events business is somewhat of a Catch 22. The client expects you to know a great deal about their company even if you’ve never written for them or their industry before. That means their corporate culture as well as their company profile, so make sure you do the necessary homework.

2. Illuminate the person behind the title

Listen carefully to the executive in question. What makes them tick? What kind of speaker are they? What does their body language tell you? If you pay attention to these things you won’t end up writing a speech that is difficult or impossible for your client to deliver. Find out if you’re dealing with someone who is naturally funny or someone who likes to tell stories. Maybe your client is a natural speaker who is confident on stage or perhaps he/she is a little nervous and prefers a more controlled environment. All of these things will influence the words you craft.

3. Get The Story

Find out what they want to say. How do they see their role? What do they want to achieve? What’s their agenda? Sometimes the client will be forthright and have a detailed outline of exactly what they want to say. Other times you may have to draw it out of them bit by bit. Be prepared for the unexpected too. Once I was writing a keynote for the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company.  I asked him what he wanted to say and he responded “Well what do you think I should say?” Fortunately I was prepared enough to move him in the right direction.

4. Find The Right Voice

Remember, this isn’t your speech, it’s theirs. You need to develop an ear for the voice of the person you’re writing for.  Listen to their speech pattern, their cadence, their rhythm and so on. Train your ear so that when you come to write you can still hear them talking to you. Recording your sessions is a great way to do this and also helps to make sure you don’t miss key information. Not all clients will allow you to record them, so training your ear becomes even more important, as does meticulous note taking.

5. Put It All Together

At this point you should have a clear understanding of the company you’re dealing with, their industry and their competition. You should know everything you need to know about the individual you’re writing for and what it is they want to say. You should also have a living, breathing image of your client in your mind’s eye so that you can ‘hear’ them speaking your words. Once you have all this you can begin to write the speech itself.

As for actually writing a great executive speech, well I’m saving that for an upcoming series of posts, so stay tuned. And please, let me know what you think.

Tagged as: body language, catch 22, executive speeches, public speaking, speechwriting, voicing