At the Pro Rhetoric web site there is an excellent, long, and very serious article by Boe Workman on October 22, 2022 titled Writers of the Lost Art: A Locknote Address on the Future of Speechwriting. That article also has just appeared in the December 2022 issue of Vital Speeches of the Day, on pages 295 to 301 with a different title. He talks at length about the nature of rhetoric and the rhetorical process. Boe says to shape the future we should:
Embrace Disruption
Think About Our Purpose and Role
Embrace ‘Rhetorical Perspective’
He concludes (read the original for his quotes) :
“As a speechwriter, I believe in the power of rhetoric to initiate and energize ideas, and in the principle of public discourse to illuminate, refine and resolve public issues….
As a people, our values, aspirations, wildest dreams and even our fears must be communicated before they can be acted upon. Rhetoric does that. What otherwise may be vague, or misinterpreted, or even imperceptible is made concrete and actionable through rhetoric….
Speeches are the artifacts of humankind’s thoughts and visions; hopes and fears. Humans are by our very nature constantly seeking to influence others and are influenced by others. This isn’t necessarily good or bad – it simply is – and will continue to be.
As speechwriters, very few of us will have ‘a life at the edge of history’ as Ted Sorensen did. But we all have an important role to play in our little corner of it – practicing rhetoric to influence, convince and persuade – helping leaders lead.
What we do is fundamental and timeless: we practice rhetoric to help humanity in crisis find words to guide itself.
And that, my fellow speechwriters, is an art that will never be lost.”
An image of Gerald Ford writing came from the Library of Congress.
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