Monday, April 29, 2024

Four Fresh Approaches for Providing Effective Evaluation Rather Than a Sandwich

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One common method for providing feedback (evaluations) is the “sandwich method.” For example, a brief article at the bottom of page 13 in the July 2023 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled Expert Advice for Evaluations says:  

 

“Many Toastmasters use the ‘sandwich method,’ which layers the evaluation into three parts: what the speaker did well, suggestions on areas for improvement, and an upbeat conclusion that encourages the speaker to continue growing in their chosen path.”

 

An article by Melinda McGuire in Faculty Focus on April 24, 2024 titled Is the Sandwich Method Getting Stale? Fresh Approaches to Providing Effective Student Feedback discusses four other approaches:

 

SBI Model: Situation, Behavior and Impact

COIN Model: Context, Observation, Impact, Next Steps

GROW Model: Goal, Reality. Options, Way Forward

CEDAR Model: Context, Example, Diagnosis, Actions, Review

 

An image of a peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich came from Evan-Amos at Wikimedia Commons.

 


Thursday, April 18, 2024

Three quotations about public speaking from Dwight Garner’s 2020 book Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On March 24, 2024 I blogged about Have you ever eaten a peanut butter and pickle sandwich? I referred to New York Times book critic Dwight Garner’s 2023 book The Upstairs Delicatessen, which is subtitled On Eating, Reading, Reading About Eating, and Eating While Reading. His interesting previous 2020 book is Garner’s Quotations: A Modern Miscellany. That book unfortunately lacks a subject index. But I skimmed it and found three quotes about public speaking.

 

On page 91 George W. Bush described Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration speech:

 

“That was some weird shit.”

 

On page 101 Clive James described George W. Bush:

 

“[He] should not be delivering a State of the Union address. He should be delivering pizza.”

 

Also on page 101, Christopher Hitchens said:

 

“If you can give a decent speech in public or cut any kind of figure on the podium, then you never need dine or sleep alone.”

 

The open book image came from Openclipart.

 

 


Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Zipper merge is an excellent metaphor


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I learned a phrase which is an excellent metaphor – zipper merge. It is courteous adult behavior described in a thirty-second YouTube video from the Utah Department of Transportation, which says:

 

“When two congested lanes on a Utah roadway become one, we use the zipper merge. Vehicles should use both lanes right up until the merge point, then take turns converging into the open lane – just like a zipper. Drivers in the closing lane must use their turn signal before moving over safely. Drivers in the open lane must let one vehicle move over in front of them. This helps reduce congestion by as much as 40 percent. And it’s the law.”

 

Another similar video from the Idaho Transportation Department titled How to Zipper Merge says:  

 

“You see a ‘lane-closed sign up ahead and the lanes are merging. So when should you actually merge? Well, the answer might surprise you: You should stay in your lane up to the point of merge. It’s called a zipper merge and it’s not only safe but encouraged. Each car takes turns easing into the open lane. This keeps things smooth and fair for drivers in the continuing lane and the lane that’s ending. So next time you see a lane-closed sign, don’t stress. Just merge when it’s your turn.”

 

There is a section titled The Zipper Merge – Research and Applications in Chapter 2 of the November 2017 U.S. Department of Transportation publication titled Recurring Traffic Bottlenecks: A Primer - Focus on Low-Cost Operational Improvements (Fourth Edition). It also is discussed in a web page at trafficwaves titled Merging-lane traffic jams, a simple cure. And another web page at Academic Dictionaries titled Zipper merge says Kevin Lerch claimed to have coined the term in the late 1960’s. I ran across it in a not-safe-for-work YouTube video titled Lewis Black reads a rant about Rhode Island bridges.

 

The zipper image was adapted from one at Openclipart.

 


Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Membership in Toastmasters International is not free, but at $10 per month is an excellent value


 

 

 

 

 

At rollingout on April 14, 2024 there is an article by Mr. Digital Fingers titled 4 clubs or groups to join free to improve your public speaking.

 

He lists the following four:

 

1] Toastmasters International

2] Meetup Public Speaking Groups

3] Online Public Speaking Communities

4] Local Libraries and Community Centers

 

But he is wrong about that first item. Toastmasters International is not free, although it is an excellent value. Their web page on How to Join says that there is a cost of $60 for semi-annual international dues, plus a $20 new member fee. That continuing $60, or just $10 per month is inexpensive. (There also may be additional club dues. At the Pioneer Club I belong to in Boise they are another $6 semi-annually, or $1 per month.)

 

Back on July 15, 2010 I blogged about how Public speaking training is a journey; You get to choose how to go.

 

An image of dollar bills was cropped from one at Openclipart.

 


Monday, April 15, 2024

Greater Communication Space is amazing business jargon


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David Murray, who edits the magazine Vital Speeches of the Day, writes a blog called Writing Boots. His post on April 9, 2024 is titled In the communication space, we think outside the dots when it comes to the language piece. He said:

 

“Generally, businesspeople never use a specific term when a vague one is available. It keeps people from pinning us down.

 

‘Business’ itself was once a hazy enough term, until someone thought to call it ‘space.’ So, I’m no longer in the communication business, I’m in the ‘communication space.’ It doesn’t get any more far out than that, man.”

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But you can get even more far out. The University of Southern California (USC) has a web page for their USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism about their Master of Arts program titled Public Relations and Advertising (MA) Fall 2024 which bombastically states:

 

“The MA in Public Relations and Advertising provides students with applied knowledge and skills for a career in the greater communication space, including, but not limited to, public relations, advertising, digital communication, influencer relations, brand activations, corporate communications, etc.”

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, there also is a very specific engineering meaning for the similar term Communications Space. I found it on a web page at NextMileTech titled One-Touch Make-Ready:

 

“The National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) is the American National Standard for the safety of power and communication utility systems. The fundamental safety recommendation by the NESC is the separation of the power space and communications spaces on utility poles.

 

The communications space is a section of a utility pole’s usable space, allowing low-voltage attachments such as fiber, broadband, telephone, copper, and coaxial cables. The communications space is the lowest space on the pole, located forty inches below the lowest attachment of the supply space.”

 

An image of a utility pole came from HighVoltage 5576 at Wikimedia Commons.

 


Sunday, April 14, 2024

Undelivered is a book by Jeff Nussbaum on the never-heard speeches that would have rewritten history

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jess Nussbaum has been a senior speechwriter for President Joe Biden. At my local public library I recently found his 374-page book from 2022, Undelivered, which is subtitled The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History. At C-SPAN CLASSROOM there is an article on Lesson Plan: Speeches Undelivered [with Jeff Nussbaum]. There is a book review by Priya Satiya at the New Republic on May 20, 2022 titled Would These Undelivered Speeches Really Have Changed History?

 

There also is an hour-and-twenty-minute YouTube video discussion at the JFK Library titled Undelivered: The Never-Heard Speeches That Would Have Rewritten History. And there is a 39-minute podcast on YouTube from the JFK Library Foundation titled Undelivered: Speeches That Could Have Rewritten History.

 

One brief example (on page 147) is General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s apology for if the D-Day invasion of France on June 6, 1944 had failed. You can find it at DDAY OVERLORD in a web page titled General Eisenhower’s drafted message. And it is discussed by Scott Simon at NPR on June 8, 2013 in an article titled The speech Eisenhower never gave on the Normandy invasion. General Eisenhower simply says that:

 

“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”

 

An article by Christopher Klein at History.com on March 13, 2024 titled Fooling Hitler: The Elaborate Ruse Behind D-Day discusses how the Allies mislead the Germans into believing the invasion would occur 150 miles away from where it did, at the Pas de Calais, and would be led by George Patton’s First Army Group.

 

The image was adapted from a silhouette of a public speaker at Openclipart.

 


Saturday, April 13, 2024

An extremely peculiar homeopathic remedy for stage fright


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently found an article by Vikas Sharma at DrHomeo titled Want to get rid of stage fright? Try these homeopathic remedies. He lists the following eight:

 

Argentum Nitricum – top recommended medicine

Gelsemium – for stage fright with fear of appearing in public

Lycopodium -for fear occurring on starting stage presentation but afterwards it goes well

Silicea – for stage fright with a fear of failure

Aconite – for stage fright with marked anxiety and panic attacks

Arsenic Album – for anxiety with marked restlessness

Medorrhinum – for stage fright, anxiety with anticipation

Ambra Grisea – for shy people having fear of people

 

I have previously blogged about five of them: Argentum Nitricum, Gelsemium, Lycopodium, Silicea, and Ambra Grisea.

 

But what the heck is Medorrhinum? I had not ever seen it before. There is another article by Vikas Sharma at DrHomeo titled Medorrhinum: Homeopathic Medicine – Its Use, Indications And Dosage. He says it is recommended in high potencies but gives no specific dosage, only that this medicine should not be repeated frequently. And Sharma claims:

 

“It is magnificent medicine to manage cases of fear, anxiety, and panic attacks. Main fears that are present in those who require it include fear of dark, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), misfortune, cancer, and sexually transmitted diseases. Those who need it are anxious, sensitive, nervous by their very nature. They are always in great hurry.”  

 

But Sharma does not say how it is prepared. There is another recent article by Dr. Mahima Rastogi at LinkedIn Pulse on November 5, 2023 titled Unlocking the healing potential of homeopathic Medorrhinum. Mr. Rastogi explains that:

 

“Medorrhinum is a nosode, which is a type of homeopathic remedy prepared from the discharge, secretions, or diseased tissue of a person or animal suffering from a particular disease. In this case, Medorrhinum is derived from the discharge of a person with gonorrhea. It is important to note that nosodes are highly diluted and succussed (shaken vigorously) in a series of steps to create a potent yet safe homeopathic remedy.”

  

There also is yet another article by Edzard Ernst on May 8, 2018 titled Medorrhinum: another surprising homeopathic remedy. He says more specifically the remedy comes from the urethral discharge of a male patient suffering from gonorrhea, and adds that none of the claims about it are supported by evidence.

 

Still another article by Vikas Sharma at DrHomeo is titled Top 5 Natural Homeopathic Remedies for Anxiety. These and their recommended dosages [in brackets] are:

 

Aconitum Napellus – top remedy for anxiety [30C]

Arsenic Album – for anxiety with chest constriction, difficult breathing and restlessness [30C]

Argentum Nitricum – for anxiety from anticipation (anticipatory anxiety) [30C]

Kali Phos – for anxiety, nervousness, fear [6X aka 3C]

Gelsemium Sempervirens – for anxiety about public appearance (social anxiety) [30C]

 

Note that the Homeopathic dilution of 3C for Kali Phos is a gigantic factor of 27C different from the 30C for the other four. C means a dilution by a factor of a hundred. At dilutions of 13C and above no molecules of the original substance remain, so any effect at 30C is purely as a placebo.  

 

The Gonorrhea cartoon was modified from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 


Friday, April 12, 2024

The lovely Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio began as a rock quarry


 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On April 11, 2024 I blogged about Viewing a total solar eclipse on a cloudy day in Boerne, Texas. The day before my wife and I met my sisters and their husbands at the lovely Japanese Tea Garden in San Antonio (as shown above). Their web site and the Wikipedia page explain that it originally had been a limestone quarry and cement factory. During World War II, when we were at war with Japan, it was renamed the Chinese Tea Garden.

 

On October 14, 2023 I had posted about Visiting Buchart Gardens near Victoria, British Columbia on September 28, 2023. Those gardens also had begun as a quarry.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next to the parking lot is the Barbed Wire BBQ restaurant, where we had an excellent lunch. 

 

 


Thursday, April 11, 2024

Viewing a total solar eclipse on a cloudy day in Boerne, Texas

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on August 21, 2017 my wife and I viewed a total solar eclipse in Idaho from a golf course on the shore of Lake Cascade. We had a perfect view with no interfering cloud cover. I blogged about it on August 30, 2017 in a post titled An event that will not soon be eclipsed. That post ended by stating that the next one is is 2024 and perhaps we will see it down in Texas.

 

On April 8, 2024 we glimpsed the total eclipse from the City Park in Boerne, Texas as shown above. We had flown down to San Antonio. Our original plan was to drive northwest about 55 miles to Kerrville where totality would be at about 1:30 PM and last for almost four and a half minutes. But Interstate 10 was clogged by so much traffic that by 12:30 we were only about halfway there. After around 25 miles we stopped at a gas station in Boerne, used the rest room, and found their City Park via a Google search. We drove there and parked at one end in a fenced-in lawn by their Agricultural Museum, which has a large collection of vintage farm equipment. Then we had our lunch while sitting at a picnic table and waited.

 

As we approached totality, the sky was almost completely cloudy. There were only a few seconds where we got to see the moon obscuring the sun. But we saw confused birds land in trees. At totality it got dark as a late night – which still was very impressive. Some folks set off fireworks to celebrate.

 

For the 2017 eclipse we had felt a sudden drastic drop in the temperature. With the clouds in 2024 there was no drastic drop. We drove slowly back to San Antonio on Texas 46 to Bulverde and then US 281 - rather than Interstate 10.    

 


Friday, April 5, 2024

Michael Knowles didn’t like Beyoncé's revised version of the Dolly Parton song Jolene

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Knowles didn’t like Beyoncé's version of the Dolly Parton song, Jolene. He tweeted:

 

“Beyoncé's ‘Jolene’ cover is BAD.”

 

But it wasn’t just a cover - it was a revision. At YouTube you can watch lyric videos of both Dolly’s version, and Beyoncé's version. And at NME on April 1, 2024 there is an article by Hollie Geraghty titled Beyonce gives Dolly Parton sole songwriting credit on ‘Jolene’ that is subtitled The country icon previously gave Beyoncé's new version her seal of approval.

 

I don’t think we should we pay much attention to a negative evaluation by a political commentator like Mr. Knowles. He’s not an expert on music or songwriting. His review reminded me of my December 28, 2012 blog post titled Soapbox Guru is a web site for posting videos of speeches or presentations and receiving evaluations. In it I mentioned that back on January 23, 2010 consulting expert Alan Weiss had panned Taylor Swift’s live performance on the Help for Haiti telethon. A week later Taylor won four Grammy Awards – Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Fearless, and Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance for White Horse.

 

The thumbs down was adapted from this image at Wikimedia Commons.

 


Thursday, April 4, 2024

Willie Nelson tells stories behind his songs in the book Energy Follows Thought


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At my friendly local public library I found and enjoyed reading a 2023 book by Willie Nelson (with David Ritz and Mickey Raphael) titled Energy Follows Thought: The stories behind my songs. It is big: 9.25” wide by 11.25” high by 1.25” thick, has almost 400 pages and weighs 3.83 pounds. On the back cover it says:

 

“I see these lyrics as little postcards from a long life. I see them as expressions of sadness or joy, fear or frustration, heartache and hope that are all part of our daily struggle to stay sane.”

 

Willie was born way back on April 29, 1933, so he is almost 91. He wrote Night Life, recorded it in 1960 and reissued in 1963. You can listen to it here on YouTube. The lyrics are:

 

“When the evening sun goes down

You will find me hanging round

The night life ain’t no good life

But it’s my life

 

Many people just like me

Dreaming of old used-to-be’s

And the night life ain’t no good life

But it’s my life

 

Listen to the blues they’re playing

Listen to what the blues are saying

 

Mine is just another scene

From the world of broken dreams

And the night life ain’t no good life

But it’s my life”

 

In the book Willie says:

 

“When I first met Ray Charles, who became one of my best friends, he said, ‘Willie, I gotta be honest. When I first heard ‘Night Life,’ I was sure it was written by a Black man.’ ‘Thank you,’ was my quick reply. It was one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever received.” 

 

He also wrote the song Crazy, which was recorded by Patsy Cline and released in October 1961. It was a hit and reached #2 on the Billboard charts both for Hot Country and Adult Contemporary. Willie claims he saw Patsy’s husband, Charlie Dick, past midnight at a Nashville bar called the Orchid Lounge (next to the Ryman Auditorium which was home for the Grand Old Opry radio show). He played it for Charlie, who insisted they take it immediately to Patsy and make her listen to it, at about 1:00 AM. On YouTube you can hear both Patsy’s 2:45 hit version and Willie’s slower 4:01 version.     

 

The title song of the book begins with these verses:

 

“Imagine what you want

Then get out of the way

Remember energy follows thought

So be careful what you say

 

Be careful what you ask for

Make sure it’s really what you want

Because your mind is made for thinking

And energy follows thought”

 

My cartoon was modified from two at Openclipart: one of a scheming boy and one of thunder and lightning.

 


Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Baseless conspiracy theories about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On March 26, 2024, at 01:27 EDT, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed after one of its support pillars was struck by the container ship M.V. Dali. Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge. Two were rescued, and the other six died.There is an AP article by Ben Finley and James Pollard on March 30, 2024 titled What we know about the Baltimore bridge collapse.


Almost immediately there were claims it was a terrorist act. On the Coast-to-Coast-AM radio show, John M. Curtis (who writes as Online Columnist) claimed ISIS-K was responsible. An article by Tess Owen at The Guardian on March 27, 2024 is titled Online conspiracy circles galvanize to proclaim Baltimore bridge collapse a ‘black swan event.’ But when you look up the Wikipedia page on Black swan theory, you will find that a Black Swan event:

 

“First, it is an outlier, as it lies outside of the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme ‘impact.’ Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable.”

 

The Key Bridge collapse was NOT the first event of its type, so it is certainly NOT a Black Swan. Back on May 9, 1980 the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Lower Tampa Bay collapsed after being hit by a ship. 35 people died. On April 17, 2023 I blogged about A great video course on Epic Engineering Failures and the Lessons They Teach. In the course that Tampa event is discussed under #6, Vehicle Collisions.   

 

There are other articles lamenting all of these online conspiracies. One by Mary Whitfill Roeloffs at Forbes on March 27, 2024 is titled Baltimore bridge collapse sparks wild conspiracies – even though officials continue to dispel them. A second by David Gilbert at Wired on March 27, 2024 is titled Online conspiracies about the Baltimore bridge collapse are out of control. And a third by A.W. Ohlheiser at Vox on March 28, 2024 is titled The slow death of Twitter is measured in disasters like the Baltimore bridge collapse. There also is a ten-minute YouTube video by Donie O’Sullivan at CNN titled ‘Ridiculous’: Reporter reacts to conspiracy theories about Baltimore bridge collapse.

 

A later article by Ramon Padilla, Trevor Hughes, and Shawn J. Sullivan at USA Today on March 29, 2024 is titled How Francis Scott Key Bridge was lost: A minute-by-minute visual analysis of the collapse. It looks more like a complicated accident.

 

Before and after Images of the bridge are from Wikimedia Commons.

 


Tuesday, April 2, 2024

An inspiring quote about speechwriting at its best


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Pro Rehetoric website there is an article on October 29, 2014 with an address to the European Speechwriters Conference in Amsterdam by Jan Sonneveld titled How speechwriting changed me. His concluding paragraphs say:

 

“Fellow speechwriters:

 

If there is one thing that summarizes best all the things I’ve learned over the past three years, it is this: words matter more than we often imagine. If we do our work with great care, then human speech is at its most powerful. We shape ideas into words and stories, creating worlds in the hearts and minds of so many people.

 

It is not easy. The world is easily deafened by cheap opinions, quick anger and fear. And our daily work is one of too many deadlines, bad public speakers and PowerPoint. But when you see a speaker meet an audience just where they are … When that happens, it is – as the American writer Anne Lamott said – the sensation of unmerited grace.

 

We can make that happen: if the words we write for others – and those we speak ourselves – offer sincerity, honesty and vulnerability.

 

And we can make it happen if our words, as the Dutch poet Henriette Roland Holst wrote on the walls of this room (beside her husband’s murals), ‘bear the hope in our hearts / that makes the dark world light.’

 

The cartoon was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 


Monday, April 1, 2024

Be your own speechwriting Santa Claus – download a free 74-page e-textbook on Essentials of Speechwriting, and two other briefer publications

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My previous post on March 29, 2024 was titled Good brief advice from Indeed [Canada] on Eight Key Steps to Successful Speech Writing. Where can you find more detailed advice?

 

On December 20, 2023 I had blogged about Getting better at speechwriting by learning from professional organizations. In that post I mentioned the European Speechwriter Network. There is a free download of their 74-page pdf textbook from 2017 by Alan Barker titled Essentials of Speechwriting [Some notes for speechwriters], which accompanies The Essentials of Speechwriting training course. Most sections are just a single page. Section headings and [page numbers] in it are:

 

Introduction [3]

Rhetoric: what it is and why it matters [5]

The five canons of rhetoric [6]

Kairos [7]

Responding to the Kairos: ethos, logos, pathos [8]

Ethos: key features [9]

Logos: key features [10]

Pathos: key features [11]

Thinking about the audience [12]

Audience profiling [13]

Establishing the speech’s objective [14]

Judicial speeches [15]

Deliberative speeches [15]

Ceremonial speeches [16]

Ceremonial speeches: purpose [17]

Ceremonial speeches: goals [18]

Ceremonial speeches: strategies [19]

Invention [20]

Invention: a worked example 21]

Arrangement: the classical model [22]

Arrangement: the classical model explained [23]

Building pyramids [24]

Arrangement: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence [25]

Starting the speech [34]

Seven ways to start a speech [35]

Style? [36]

PRAISE: six elements of style [37]

Proverbs: making your message memorable [38]

Proverbs: rhetorical characteristics [39]

Resonators: making your material concrete [40]

Resonators [41]

Attention: grabbing it and holding it #1 [42]

Attention: grabbing it and holding it #2 [43]

Attention: the curiosity factor [44]

Influence: making yourself credible [45]

Influence: finding your stance [46]

Influence: making your material credible [47]

Stories: involving your audience in the action [48]

Stories: creating a plot [49]

Emotions: stimulating action in your audience [50]

Style: creating a text for speaking [51]

Transitional devices [52]

Varying sentence construction [53]

Verbs: active and passive [54]

Nouns: concrete and abstract [55]

Nominalization [56]

Writing for non-native English speakers [57]

Figures of speech [58]

Working with your speaker [60]

Talking to your speaker [61]

Speechwriter as Consultant [62]

The three modes of appeal revisited [64]

Speechwriter as Coach [67]

Speechwriter as Style Consultant [69]

Speechwriter as Event Manager [70]

Writing for non-native English speakers [71]

Useful resources: books [72]

Useful resources: websites [73]

Alan Barker [74]

 

There also is a 38-page 2010 ebook by Peter Dhu titled The Killer Speech Writing Workbook. Section headings and [page numbers] in it are:

 

   Introduction to the Speech Writing Workbook [4]

   Warm Up Exercise: Preventative medicine for writer’s block [6]

1) Start at the End [9]

2) Theme: The thread that weaves your speech together [12]

3) WIIFM – What’s in it for Me [17]

4) Identify Three or Four Key Points [22]

5) Start Strong [28]

6) Write Your First Draft [30]

7) Practise and Prepare [34]

    References [36]

 

The June 2018 issue of Toastmaster magazine has a profile article by Missy Sheehan about Peter Dhu on pages 12 to 14 titled Finding His Voice.  

 

And back on May 23, 2010 I blogged about another useful publication in a post titled Speechwriting advice US citizens already have paid for. I discussed Speechwriting in Perspective: A Brief Guide to Effective and Persuasive Communication which is Congressional Research Service Report #98-170. You can download a 26-page pdf here.

 

The Santa Claus image was adapted from this one at the Library of Congress.