Getting better at speechwriting by learning from professional organizations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw an interesting post by Dr. Jim Anderson on December 12, 2023 at his blog The Accidental Communicator titled How to Get Better at Writing Speeches. First, he suggested that you follow organizations of professional speechwriters, and mentioned the National Association of Professional Speechwriters, the U. K. Speechwriters Guild, and the European Speechwriter Network. Second, he suggested reading articles and tips both at Ragan Communications and Vital Speeches of the Day magazine. There are other speechwriter groups you might belong to as well.

National Association of Professional Speechwriters

This just is a LinkedIn group with only ~120 members. It was created back in January 2012.

 

U. K. Speechwriters Guild

 This group was started by Brian Jenner with a conference in September 2009. They have a blog, which sometimes is an E-Newsletter.   

 

European Speechwriter Network

This group also was started by Brian Jenner. I blogged about him in a post on May 30, 2023 titled Are there blogs written by professional speechwriters? They have or had a newsletter until 2019, and about ten issues can be found on the pay site Scribd.

 

Professional Speechwriters Association (PSA)

 Jim didn’t mention this association, which began in 2013. There is an article about its founder, David Murray (who also edits Vital Speeches of the Day magazine), by Mary Nesfield in the June 2015 Toastmaster magazine on pages 12 and 13 titled The Speechwriter’s Shepherd. I have blogged about two of their 12-page whitepapers. On May 20, 2023 I posted on A practical process for writing any speech – from the Professional Speechwriters Association. And on December 8, 2023 I posted on How to Write a Great Commencement Speech.

 

Speechwriters of Color

There is an article by Terry Edmonds in the Washington Monthly about this group on June 20, 2022 titled Why We Need Speechwriters Who Look Like America.

 

Judson Welliver Society

 On April 19, 2023 I blogged about how The Judson Welliver Society is an exclusive group of former presidential speechwriters – and referred to the above article by Terry Edmonds.

 

GC [Government of Canada] Speechwriters’ Community of Practice

This is a private Facebook group with about 300 members. It is mentioned in an article by Elena Aptowitzer on June 7, 2019 titled Preparing a New Generation of Professional Speechwriters about a course given by Carleton University.

 

Ragan

Ragan publishes about communications and public relations. They hold an annual Speechwriters and Executive Communicators Conference – which inspired the U. K. Speechwriters Guild. There is an excellent article by Andrew Imbrie at Ragan on December 7, 2021 titled 10 keys to unlock speechwriting success. Those keys are to:

 

Find your why

Show, don’t tell

“Deep and simple is far more essential than shallow and complex”

Frame before you proclaim

Tell a story

Teamwork is essential

Take back the pen

Reflect the person, not just the voice

Turn your numbers into images

Know your audience and the room

 

The cartoon with a man working at his computer was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.