Summer

While every summer brings different adventures, one priority that does not change is to squeeze in several books, including a few I've read many times before. At the top of that pile can be found Betty Smith's classic, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

In a novel of rich language, there's one particular favorite:

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory."

Perhaps that's easier in summer -- the first sweet ear of Jersey corn, the first firefly of the evening -- so much is around us that should not be overlooked or taken for granted.

Same can be true of business -- not taking any speaking opportunity for granted but approaching each one with freshness, with creativity, and with careful thought.

Holiday Message

Every December, despite its reflection of an era with a much different definition of “equality,” I watch the 1954 movie “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye (music by Irving Berlin). In a nutshell, the boys put on a Christmas show bringing their old Army unit to Vermont to surprise their former commanding officer (now a struggling innkeeper – played by Dean Jagger). The look on Major General Tom Waverly’s face when he sees the men from the 151^st Division gathered to honor him gets me every time.

Maybe it is an idealistic (okay, schmaltzy) ending, but it touches a universal chord: people want to know they matter – that their lives make a difference.

That's not a message we tend to hear—or give—very often. Yet we may feel we do – especially at this time of year with holiday gatherings of employees, offering "thanks - good year - good job" comments. We offer lots of head-talk, not heart-talk. Most employees are longing to be inspired, not just thanked; to hear about the leader's vision and how they are the ones who are going to make it happen. They want to know that their work matters – that what they are doing is valued and makes a difference.


But we stay safe by staying aloof, and don’t often take the time to reflect and consider what people want to hear. We don’t ask ourselves what’s going to get them juiced, what will they remember 10 minutes after the party ends? As a result, we miss invaluable opportunities.


Benjamin Franklin said, "If you would persuade, you must appeal to interest rather than intellect." In other words, connect emotionally.


BusinessWeek columnist Carmine Gallo challenges leaders to articulate an emotional, concise vision in 10 words or less – it must pass the napkin test, meaning when written out, it can fit entirely on the back of a napkin. The key is to make your vision consistent and repeatable. Then do it – repeat it constantly. Let folks know they matter ... that their work is making a difference in achieving that vision. Especially at holiday parties.

Not Getting It

From today's New York Times:

And the day offered a perfect opportunity for the campaign, with a potentially embarrassing mini-scandal: a waitress’s report that Mrs. Clinton had failed to tip after eating at a Maid-Rite diner in central Iowa, an assertion that ricocheted around the Internet on Thursday.

Reached at her home in Iowa, the waitress, Anita Esterday, said that neither she nor a colleague who helped serve Mrs. Clinton recalled seeing any tip.

She said a local staff member of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign was in the restaurant on Thursday to tell them that the campaign had left a tip.

She said that when she and her colleague said they had not seen a tip, the staff member gave each of them $20.

Ms. Esterday said she did not understand what all the commotion was about.

“You people are really nuts,” she told a reporter during a phone interview. “There’s kids dying in the war, the price of oil right now — there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”

This is not a commentary about the Clinton campaign/candidacy or whether or not a tip was actually left or whether a staffer paid up the next day.

This is about how we in communications – and I risk journalists’ ire for lumping them with copy writers and speech writers – miss the boat. We think we know what people want to hear – what will rock their worlds. And we’re often wrong.

Ms. Esterday’s quote should be printed, framed, and sitting on the desks of everyone who writes for others—okay, I’ll limit it to speech writers.

This arrogance of message-control knows no limits – in other words, it’s not just attributable to those inside the Beltway or wrapped up in politics. It can be found in equal measures inside CEO corner offices across America.

We’re so busy crafting message we forget to listen. It takes time – it takes time to call a conference organizer, to speak with key stakeholders, to reach out to people in the community. But the ROI is enormous: a speech that touches people—that motivates them into action because it’s real versus a speech that means little to almost everybody listening and is forgotten by the time they pull out of the parking lot.

That’s the best tip I’ve gotten all year.

Two Types of Speeches - Two Approaches to the Audience

IdeaBank, an online reference tool for quotes, history, and trivia – http://www.idea-bank.com/ib/html/ – sends subscribers a monthly email newsletter each month. The new editor, Tom Daly, is also the longstanding editor of Vital Speeches of the Day. In May’s edition, he made an interesting observation:

“There are only two types of speeches, informative or persuasive; that's it. Your speech will either be one that informs your audience about a topic or tries to persuade them to accept or adopt a particular position.”

I’ve been thinking about that – looking at past speeches I’ve written for clients, considering remarks I read, and evaluating presentations as I listen. I’m beginning to think he’s absolutely right – every speech is one or the other. Those that aren’t easily identifiable, most likely also fail as speeches, with each lacking a unified theme or message, taking the audience all over the place (though in reality the audience won’t “go” with that type of speaker anywhere but will mentally disengage to think about a to do list, what to pick up at the store, the next day’s meeting, the hairstyle of the person three rows down and two over, etc.)

A couple of weeks after reading this, I met Andy Gilman, President and CEO of CommCore Consulting Group – www.commcoreconsulting.com – and read his book, Get to the Point, co-authored with Karen Berg. (Highly recommend it for its great tips on preparing and delivering the type of presentations that occur in most companies – ISBN 0-7872-2232-1.)

First chapter, first critical success factor: know your audience. They write: “There is a distinction between ‘speaker-centered’ and ‘audience-centered’ messages.” Which made me reflect on another two buckets every speech can be put into: either it’s all about the speaker or it connects to the audience. But unlike the informative/persuasive division, this one makes or breaks the event.

To be successful, regardless of the topic or the purpose, a speech needs to answer the number one question of the audience: “How does this affect me?” Gilman and Berg refer to it as “What’s in it for me?” or WIIFM (pronounced “wiffum”). An informative speech becomes a long-winded lecture if that connection to the audience is not made. A persuasive speech will not inspire action, get people to donate money, or change anyone’s mind. This is a critical point that is too often overlooked by the speaker pushing his or her agenda, feeling he or she knows best ... after all, the speaker may say, have they not come to hear me? Am not I the boss/ the celebrity/ the VIP/ the leading candidate in the race?

Opportunity lost. The speaker may not even realize it as. thankfully, good manners still prevail and audiences will applaud and at least one or two will politely say it was a good speech. But I’d bet no one was moved (persuasive) ... no light bulbs went off in someone’s head (informative) ... and an hour later, no one could tell you what the speech was really about.

Identify the purpose: informative or persuasive. Then make sure it’s connected clearly to the audience.

Holiday Message

Dear Friends and Colleagues –

Whether I have been your “ghost” writer in the past, am in the present, or can fill a future need, I wish to extend the happiest of holiday greetings.

We are big fans of “A Christmas Carol” (most particularly the reading done by Patrick Stewart—though the Muppets’ movie version is a close second). It is a story rich with lessons ... the ripple effect of the smallest deed done—or not done ... how our choices determine our future ... and how we grow to embody the words we speak.

This last lesson is slightly different than saying our words reflect what’s inside. Scrooge changed his “bah, humbug” for laughter the morning after the ghosts had visited him – a small step before he began the much larger ones of reforming his attitudes, his relationships, and his habits, but Dickens tells how he grew to embody that mirth. Scrooge characterizes for us the importance of giving voice to vision and change, even if the road ahead is fraught with obstacles. It’s about having a spirit of hope – and the strength and courage to act in spite of difficulties or fear.

There’s another lesson from “A Christmas Carol” that is wonderfully captured by Winston Churchill: “You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give.”

Best wishes for a healthy, successful, courageous 2007 – and know that I am available to help you also make it an articulate one!

Very best regards,

Ady

July 2006 - Pocket of Greatness

Can a speech writer be a "pocket of greatness"? The term comes from Jim Collins' best seller Good to Great. Several clients have quoted, handed me copies, done presentations about, and otherwise been completely swept away by Collins' recently published monograph applying the good to great (g2g) principles to the social sector. With some good reason as Collins puts into simplistic terms the elements necessary to propel an organization forward.

And that gets me back to the question of whether you can be an individual "pocket of greatness"-- this is more than stringing words together; it's a huge level of value. The answer is yes: you can write a speech that reveals the best of leadership, that inspires an audience to follow when they have the choice not to (think "volunteers"), that taps idealistic passion, that clearly communicates what the organization is best in the world at, that challenges the building of its resource engine, and/or that demonstrates success and strengthens the brand. These are all elements of Collins' g2g framework.

I think every speech can help to potentially push the organization's flywheel forward ... if the words are true, i.e., the leadership's day-to-day actions are living them. What's equally true is that a speech fails to make any real difference at all. That's what happens when an executive doesn't realize the opportunity he or she has with each speaking engagement, whether a keynote, a fund raiser, a press conference, a staff meeting, or any other speaking opportunity. And that's where a speech writer can be a "pocket of greatness" by maintaining an unrelenting focus on how all of the small events contribute to the big picture of where that organization is going to best achieve its mission.

It's as Shakespeare captured long ago: "We know what we are...but not what we may be."

Check out Jim Collins for yourself at www.jimcollins.com

January 2006 - The Persuasive Power of Analogies

Lots of people use analogies, which is the art of drawing similarities between things that are otherwise dissimilar, both in speaking and in writing. You may well remember how we in D.C. were treated to a summer of baseball – and not just by the Nationals; Chief Justice Roberts got the first hit and was soon joined in the field by scores of others. But whether their analogies worked all depended upon how well the intended audiences knew baseball (and lawmakers clearly know how to play the game as Roberts hit a home run on his confirmation hearings).

Like all of you who write speeches for a living, I’m constantly on the lookout (as well as ear-out) for creative presentations. More often than not, the strongest speeches paint a picture, often making use of analogies and metaphors. Analogies can make words come alive; they can make it easier for listeners’ to relate to, and remember, abstract concepts. They can turn an impersonal speaker into an impressive spokesperson. They can turn a speech from a one-night (or morning, or afternoon) stand into a standing ovation.

Life May Not Have a Dress Rehearsal but it Does have a Metaphor

Like grains of sand on the beach, there’s no shortage of potential analogies out there. Leigh Buchanan wrote in an opinion piece for Harvard Business Review (“No More Metaphors,” March 2005) that she had compiled “an A-to-Z roster [of business metaphors] that began with Antarctica (Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer) and ended with Zeus (Gods of Management: The Changing Work of Organizations).” No doubt the Yankees made the list with a book by Joe Torre, as did those works comparing business to the behavior of ants (resource allocation and supply chains) and mice seeking cheese (change).

But are all of these metaphors successful? Consider an example that appeared four months later in HBR’s July-August 2005 issue (“Virtuoso Teams”). The authors, Bill Fischer and Andy Boynton, used West Side Story to discuss the characteristics, habits, and benefits of bringing the best and brightest together in teams. Their model was neither the Sharks nor the Jets; it was choreographer Jerome Robbins, writer Arthur Laurents, composer Leonard Bernstein, and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. It was a beautiful tribute to the team, whom they credit with changing American drama, but I must admit the article didn’t play well with me. There was so much necessary background information on each of these gifted men that the message that businesses should take the risk (and accept the potential headaches) of super-power teams was diluted.

Another example from this past summer was in Leader to Leader (No. 37 Summer 2005). In the article “Leadership T’ai Chi: A Beginner's Guide,” by Robert Goldberg, extrapolating the principles of this ancient martial art to helping folks develop effective leadership. Since I’ve never done T’ai Chi, I found it hard to focus.

The very next article by Stan Davis and David McIntosh was “The Art of Leadership.” It opened with a paragraph using the familiar analogy of business as war on a battlefield, then described it in sports’ terms, followed by machinery and then principles of hydraulics. They contrasted the four of these metaphors with one of their own: art. Their message was how to find “beauty, excitement, and pleasure in business.” I immediately envisioned Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” and the rest was lost.

Lost in Translation

For an analogy to work, it’s got to ring true to the audience. These examples also illustrate one of the key differences between using analogies when writing for the eye versus writing for the ear. Explaining a complex or unfamiliar metaphor takes precious time—word-count usually doesn’t have the same limitations as a clock ticking away minutes. But even if time isn’t an issue, explaining a not readily understood analogy can detract from the key message. To avoid that, the analogy has got to be immediately familiar to the audience (whether it’s possible to guarantee 100% familiarity would be an interesting discussion topic). When a keynote will be delivered before a broad audience, or to an international audience, the odds of shared experiences, interests, or history – let alone language and culture – rapidly diminishes. Figurative language is a key tool of impact and persuasion. But it doesn’t work if the audience can’t connect the subtle points – or absolutely detests the topic (e.g., sports for a lot of folks, not just women).

Lest I be accused of being on a high horse, let me eat my own humble pie (mixing metaphors is another interesting discussion). Several years ago, a client asked for help to develop a keynote on best practices for recruiting and retaining information technology employees – a real challenge in the early ‘90s when competition for skilled workers was fierce (remember Y2K?). When I met with her in her office, hanging on her wall were a few gorgeous weavings she had collected. Weaving seemed like a powerful analogy to use, so we organized the key points using terms related to it – warp, weft, shuttle, etc. The overall message being it requires multiple steps and special tools to create a tapestry of success for any business.

When we were finished, the speech was logical. It flowed seamlessly. And we had beautiful photographs illustrating the weaving terms to display on a huge screen – radically different from typical PowerPoint bullet lists. However, what we actually wove was a tapestry of failure for two reasons. One is that it took too much time to explain the terms. And two, the truth was, the speaker was not a dynamic enough of a personality to carry it off – she was an extremely nervous presenter – and I should have taken that into consideration.

She actually did get some positive feedback afterwards (most likely from audience members who knew something about weaving beforehand), but the experience brought home a very important lesson to me – the analogy must fit the speaker. Not just in terms of being familiar with it (in this case she was), but also in terms of being able to dramatically sell it. Knowing the topic counts; so does being convincing and excited about it.

Cream Rises to the Top but it Takes a lot of Work to Make Butter

The last thing I consider when using analogies is whether they should be carried through the entirety of the remarks (as the examples above do) or on a point-by-point basis when applicable. If the latter, then the speaker is free to use different examples, just as there might be different quotes, throughout the script. So one analogy may draw an image of an animal, the next of mountain climbing, etc.

The caution with that approach is running the risk of creating a laundry list of unconnected points. In other words, there’s no central theme. When I was just starting out, one of my mentors, James Humes, drilled the concept of one theme into my head. (Humes has authored several books – his most recent is Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln: 21 Powerful Secrets of History's Greatest Speakers.) His lessons about one theme are based on exhaustive study of Winston Churchill, who once told a protégée, “If people can’t say in one sentence what the speech is about, it’s a speech not worth delivering.”

If used creatively—introducing it in the opening, relating each point to it, and linking it to a strong ending—a metaphor can be the glue that holds a speech together. And the skilled speechwriter will make sure people don’t walk out saying the speech was about baseball, i.e., losing the message in the metaphor.

Three Things

So whether an analogy or metaphor works depends on three things: relevancy for the audience, relevancy for the speaker, and relevancy for the topic that can be conveyed in the allotted amount of time. Helping speakers’ draw a picture for audiences is one of the best tools speechwriters have to offer. Whether scaling a mountain, exploring where no man has gone before, throwing a red flag on the field, or not swapping horses in the middle of a stream, we can help our speaker talk like a leader – to be inspiring, encouraging, commanding – whatever the situation at hand requires.

Posted on the Washington Speechwriters Roundtable (http://www.washingtonspeechwriters.com)