Working with the Speaker

By this point, it should be clear that the speechwriter must work with the speaker on every phase of developing the speech. The word choices, even the length and rhythm of the sentences, must be appropriate to the indi­vidual speaking style. The speaker must feel familiar enough with the supporting data to field questions and defend his or her views. And fi­nally, the speaker must have a general confidence in the speech in order to give it with conviction. Ideally, the person selected to write a speech should have worked for some time in close conjunction with the speaker. If that is not the case, then the writer must have access to the speaker to go over the information, and there must be at least one session in which the writer hears the script read by the speaker. That way, the words can be tailored to the speaker, and the speaker can develop the necessary trust in the writer.

Every good writer is not necessarily a good speech writer. Corporations know that, and they often use the consultant services of a specialist who writes major speeches for chief executive officers.

Speechwriters don't necessarily have to be experts about the busi­ness of the company whose CEO they are writing for. That's because their job is to take the information provided by the public relations de­partment and shape it into easy-to-understand statements that are written for the ear, not for the eye.

The key trait for the consummate speechwriter is that he or she is widely read. In addition to absorbing the leading news media and busi­ness publications, the speechwriter also is familiar with the latest non-fiction books on a variety of public affairs topics, and probably also the current novels that deal with problems that affect society.

Part of the speechwriter's homework is to study the style of the CEO—observing the speaker in public situations—in order to choose phrases and expressions that will seem natural when read from a script. The speechwriter must have access to the CEO before the speech is writ­ten and when the first draft is ready for the speaker's comments, ques­tions, and suggestions.