Professionally Speaking

Think for a moment of corporate America in terms of Medieval England.

This is of course quite ridiculous. We've come a such a long way since the 14th Century. Back in the Dark Ages literacy was at all-time low. A minority of the population held a passport and had traveled overseas. The rabble was distracted by jousting, feasting and Mystery Plays. And the King gave speeches no-one listened to.

I can't possibly imagine what this era of history has in common with our own.

But what if? What if we did imagine?

What roles would we all play? What do the characters in the Canterbury Tales, or Monty Python and the Holy Grail tell us about life today?

Obviously the CEO is the King (or, in rare cases, the Queen). An enlightened monarch or raging despot ruling over the organization. The EVPs and SVPs are the Barons at Court, consumed by intrigue and power plays. Sales managers are the Knights, conquering new territory. The staff are serfs and peasants, laboring in cubicle farms.

What about the speechwriter? What roles best suit the speechwriter in this Medieval analogy?

Actually, there's quite a number which fit the job description.

For starters, how about the speechwriter as the Motley Fool?

The Motley Fool

The fool on the hill

Sees the sun going down,

And the eyes in his head,

See the world spinning 'round.

- The Beatles: Fool on the Hill

The Fool in the Medieval Court stands behind King’s throne. While Barons and Knights give measured advice the Fool whispers in the King's ear "That's boring. Rubbish! Claptrap! The people won't buy it. You'll have to spice it up to keep their attention at the Guild Hall Luncheon tomorrow. Make 'em laugh my liege. Tell 'em a story."

The Fool adds Laughter! Humor! Interest! He has King’s ear, for the moment. The King tolerates him (just) and values his fresh point of view.

The role of the Motley Fool is politically cool. You get to hang out with the powerful and mighty in the land. You might even spend time with the King on the Corporate Jet. But never forget that you're the only person in the room without 5,000 serfs reporting to you and a quarterly number to make.

Screw up and it’s "Off with his head!"

As Robert Schlesinger said about his role in JFK’s White House, speechwriters counter the "diplomatic blandness" the State Department bureaucracy produced.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Fools

Step outside the corporate bureaucracy.

Look at issues and topics with fresh eyes.

Inject humor, levity, tell stories – audiences love it.

Have the courage to speak frankly to the powerful.

Don't show fear when the King growls.

Enough with the Jester. What other role characterizes the job of an Executive Communications Manager (aka Speechwriter) in today's corporation? How about ...

The Ploughman

Businessmen they drink my wine

Ploughmen dig my earth

- Dylan: All Along The Watchtower

A world away from the gilded Court, Ploughmen till the fields. Tedious but necessary work plays a large part in speechwriting. Doing research. Fact-checking. Ploughing through the background papers which spew from Subject Matter Experts like weeds sprouting on a April morning after a few sweet showers.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Ploughmen

It's boring work, but learn to live with it. With any luck you'll have the fields tilled by nightfall and the King will invite you to the feast that evening.

Have systems in place to take care of the boring stuff. Tracking forms; checklists; everything to speed the plough.

Divide up tasks. It's less overwhelming to focus on today's furrow than worry about the rest of the forty-acre field.

Take breaks, quaff ale, be strong behind the plough.

The Fisherman

Fish supplemented the Medieval diet. Carp was delicacy plucked from the castle moat by Fishermen. It's always fun to throw a few lines in the water and see what slippery items of information you can catch. Today's fisherman uses email and voice mail to leave requests for information with subject experts across the kingdom. Bait your hook with the name of the CEO. ("I'm doing some research for a speech Mark is giving next month and wanted your views..."). Always use the King's first name. When the fish bite, reel them in.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Fisherman

Plan ahead. The fish might not be biting today. You need to get your lines in the water early on in the process.

Have patience. But if you don't get an answer after a few days, fish in another part of the corporate millpond.

Don't forget to bait your email requests with the first name of the executive you are writing for.

The Miller

The Miller is an important member of every Medieval community. Without him, there would be no flour and no loaves of bread. Bread and circus's are what keep the serfs fed and happy. Every Miller is dusty from grinding wheat into flour; separating wheat from chaff.

Subject Matter Experts (SME’s - rhymes with please) will bring sacks and sacks and sacks and sacks of data to your mill. Each direct report likes to provide at least 45 minutes of content for a 15 executive minute speech. If the executive has 10 reports that means you'll have to sieve through eight hours of content.

It's the speechwriters job to grind it down, then bake fresh loaves to feed the audience.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Millers

This is your biggest single value-add. No-one else wants to stand there while the mill-wheels are a-turning.

Edit ruthlessly – throw out 90% of the data the engineers and SME's send you.

Say ‘No’ to requests for more data and facts from Knight's and Baron's who pile on the grain as a CYA strategy.

Keep the mill-wheels turning. Don't send un-milled sacks of data to the court. They are paying you to sift and select.

The Alchemist

The Alchemist turns base metal into Gold. Like Rumpelstiltskin’s daughter you'll take their words and sit in your room all night spinning them into gold. And next morning no-one will know how you did it.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Alchemists

Study the book of spells - text-books on speechwriting such as those listed at the end of this parchment.

Safeguard the Mystery. Don’t reveal your secrets to the other members of the Court.

Practice makes perfect. Alchemy is an art, not a science. Cultivate your Craft.

Understand that what you do is magikal to ordinary mortals.

The Monk

Scriptorium: a place for writing - commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic scribes.

- Wikipedia

Monks spent hours, days, weeks, months, years in the Scriptorium illustrating manuscripts like the Book of Kells. Everyone admires their artistry but wonders why they spent so much time coloring basic information and making it, actually, harder to comprehend.

That was then. This is now.

The speechwriter today spends hours, weeks, months, years in front of the computer illustrating presentations in PowerPoint. Future archeologists will gaze in wonder at the endless decks of slides. Beautiful, mindless illustrations of...what? Will anyone be able to comprehend these charts in the future? Can members of the audience comprehend them today?

Who cares. Monks may have had a diet of thin gruel, but illustrated manuscripts occupied them on winter evenings.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Monks

Learn cutting-edge PowerPoint skills. Take time to study and learn techniques.

Develop a good relationship with your graphics team who support you in this.

Read two of the Bibles of the modern era: Nancy Duarte's slide:ology and Garr Reynold's Presentation Zen

The Wandering Minstrel

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

- Dylan: Mr. Tambourine Man

OK. I saved the best for last. All of the previous roles are aspects of life at Court, inside the hierarchical corporate world, bound by proscribed roles and strict protocols.

The Wandering Minstrel travels the land a free man composing sonnets and madrigals for clients.

Today the speechwriter as consultant wanders freely, far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow. If this sounds like the life for you, there's important lessons you need to learn.

Lessons for Speechwriters as Minstrel

Aim for niche markets. Become an expert in a specific industry. You'll make good money if your expertize is an inch wide and a mile deep.

Work fast, bill clients a flat fee, clean up and move on (just like Joe the Plumber).

Stay at the top of your game. You have to be good, darned good.

Work by referrals. People love to hire a Minstrel who has performed for the crowned heads of Europe.

That's the end of my tour of the Middle Ages. If you'd like to hear how this sounded when I delivered it as a talk to a District 57 Toastmasters meeting in Oakland, California, on November 15th 2008, click on the podcast icon below. (Since this is 35 minute presentation, you might prefer to choose the Download option to save it to your computer.)

Book of Spells

Here's some reference books I keep close by:

Writing Effective Speeches, by Henry Ehrlich Practical advice from a master of the craft.

Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln, by James C . Humes Notes from Nixon's 'Rose Garden speechwriter' with an anglophile twist.

Say It Like Shakespeare, by Thomas Leech Speechwriting illustrated by the dramaturgy of the Bard.

Powerwriting, by Suzan St Maur UK-based St Maur offers advice on business writing in general.

Writing Great Speeches, by Alan M. Perlman Experienced corporate speechwriter shares his secrets.

Speeches That Changed the World: The Stories and Transcripts of the Moments That Made History Study the text of great speeches.

As useful as reading books is, you should also spend time listening to speeches. Here's a list of 100 great ones.

Shining Spirit

12 years ago, Cindy Light emigrated from her native China to America not knowing a single person or how to speak a word of English. All she had were four simple things: one small suitcase, two hard working hands and a heart filled with American dreams. Today, she is a successful entrepreneur, a certified image consultant, a professional speaker, and the author of an upcoming book about Chinese culture and its business impact.

Chinese background

Cindy graduated at age 19 from Beijing University. She started her career as an assistant professor of philosophy in Hangzhou Business University. Then she become a marketing and PR director for a big company in Hong Kong. Later, she was hand-picked by the Chinese Government to be a policy consultant helping foreigners set up their business in China.

Life in the United States

Despite her impressive accomplishments in China, setting out in the U.S. not knowing a word of English was not easy. However, while growing up with her grandmother, a master-tailor in Shanghai, she learned how to sew and design clothes when she was only five years old.

In 1999, she started her first business "Cindy’s Sewing and Design Studio" at her home in Atlanta. She designed and hand-crafted suits, dresses, home decor and even matching outfits for people and their dogs! Her work quickly attracted discerning people in the South-East.

Next, with improving English skills, she started to teach sewing, design and dress-making classes in local fabric stores. Soon, she was invited by clubs, corporations, and organizations to teach people how to dress right for their business and personal life. She had a flair for suggesting how to put together a powerful, beautiful and professionally appropriate wardrobe without spending a fortune.

In 2007, Cindy was hired as a speaker for the Association of Image Consultants International Conference on the topic of Chinese culture and it’s business impact. She now plans a book on this topic.

Pro-Track Profile

Following her success as a speaker, Cindy found the National Speakers Association website.

In early 2008, she flew to San Francisco and attended an NSA/NC chapter meeting. She signed up for the Pro-Track program and commuted to the next three meetings from her home in Atlanta before relocating to Sausalito.

To here what she told me about her image consulting business and her three tips for Professional Speakers on how to dress for maximum impact, click on the podcast icon below.

(Cindy Light is a certified image consultant, professional speaker, and author of an upcoming book about Chinese culture and it’s business impact. She can be reached at 415-889-9399 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              415-889-9399      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or via email at [email protected])

Following a presentation on podcasting to the Saturday morning CPC Job Connections meeting I held a drawing for the name of a lucky job seeker who would like to be profiled in a podcast interview. Aaron was the name that was pulled out of the hat.

Coincidentally, he's a writer as well as a blogger. Aaron currently blogs for AOL on personal finance while he continues to look for a full-time position as a writer or editor. He also writes his own blog Tales of an Unemployed Dad.

This podcast interview with Aaron is an example of publicizing your skills and background with a different vehicle than the written word (resumes, cover letters, websites, blogs). That's soooo last century, right?

As the economy tanks, job seekers need to think differently to brand and market themselves. Podcasting is a low-cost, viable alternative.

Listen to Aaron describe his background and experience by clicking on the podcast icon below. If you are looking for a writer or editor (or know someone who is) and like what you hear, you can contact Aaron at [email protected] or by calling his cell phone: 925.482.5934.

Doug is one of the leaders of a networking group in Danville, California called Job Connections. The purpose of the group is to support and encourage people as they search for employment. The group has over 2,100 members and requires new members to attend one meeting in person.

Job Connections meets at the Community Presbyterian Church in Danville, from 9AM - 11:30AM every Saturday. Attendees are treated to a free selection of breakfast pastries and coffee and guest speakers provide guidance regarding some aspect of a job search.

I first visited Job Connections in 2004 and on Saturday November 15th at 10:30am I'm presenting a class on podcasting as a branding and career tool to the 150+ attendees. To prepare for the class, I asked Doug about the history of Job Connections and what changes he's seen so far this year.

To hear what he had to tell me, click on the podcast icon below.

I gave a 20-minute presentation on podcasting at the BiztechDay event held Saturday October 25th in San Francisco. I recorded the class on podcasting as a podcast (duh!) using my trusty Olympus DS330 digital recorder and a lapel mic.

The presentation covers the basics of recording, editing and publishing podcasts.

Here's the step-by-step guide to podcasting handout.

Here's the slides on podcasting 101.

To hear what I said, click on the podcast icon below. (Since this is a 20 minute podcast, you might prefer to choose the Download option and save it for later.)

BiztechDay attracted over 500 small business owners and entrepreneurs to the San Francisco Hilton on a sunny October Saturday.

Attendees heard from a wide range of keynote speakers, content experts and panelists about ways to grow their business using the power of the Internet & Web 2.0 tools.

The event opened with Tim Ferriss, lifestyle design author of The 4-Hour Workweek who was interviewed by event organizer Edith Yeung. The afternoon keynote was Blendtec marketing genius George Wright - the guy who invested $50 in a viral marketing campaign that created the Will It Blend? YouTube videos seem by millions. The closing keynote was Scott Helferman, founder of Meetup.com.

Break-out sessions covered everything from social networks to on-demand magazine publishing; viral marketing to email; video to podcasting.

I asked people what business they were in and what brought them to the event. To hear what some of the 500 had to say, click on the podcast icon below to hear the voices of BiztechDay.

Paul is a member of the NSA/NC Pro-Track class who is fascinated by the idea that listening can became a societal phenomenon.

He has partnered with Stanford PhD Dr. Eran Magen to create a powerful system for connecting with others called Supportive Listening.

With Supportive Listening, a listener can help a friend, family member, client, or colleague relax, gain clarity, and find their own answers to challenges. Paul reports that workshop participants are often surprised at the effectiveness of the technique.

In the past year Paul and Eran have facilitated over a dozen Supportive Listening workshops in the Bay Area. Paul is currently working with a group at Stanford to develop a comprehensive listening skills program.

Going forward, Paul and Eran are looking to introduce Supportive Listening into Healthcare environments. They believe that it can help doctors and nurses work more effectively with patients, as well as helping them build trust with colleagues.

Would you like to be a better listener? Subscribe to the Supportive Listening Newsletter to get innovative listening tips and news of the latest workshops and products.

If you have ideas for Supportive Listening, Paul would love to hear from you. Contact him at [email protected].

Listen supportively as Paul discusses his ideas by clicking on the podcast icon below.

The Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA/NC) hosted our annual Open House this evening. Over 35 people turned up on the night when much of the rest of the nation was tuning in to the Palin/Biden debate.

The audience heard from a bevvy of professional speakers about what it takes to make a living in this profession.

Among the visitors, I met Nicole Bachelor, who was born in the UK, but now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works for one of the big technology companies in Silicon Valley and has many years experience as a telecommuter.

Nicole has parlayed her expertise into a website and e-book which reveals essential advice and tools for negotiating a telecommuting arrangement in your existing or new job. Then helps make sure you telecommute successfully and keep your career at peak performance. She provides tips, tricks, and techniques for making telecommuting as simple, and easy as going into the office, without all the extra hassle.

Having enjoyed the benefits of telecommuting as an environmentally responsible, low-stress, productivity-enhancing option I was curious to ask Nicole some of the secrets she shares in her book.

To hear what she had to say, click on the podcast icon below.

Lauren Mayer is a humorist and songwriter who started piano lessons at 3 and started writing song parodies and funny songs shortly thereafter. (She needed to do something - she was a liberal Jewish kid in Orange County!) A die-hard high school debater, she graduated from Yale intending to go into politics via law school, but after taking a year off to explore theater writing in New York, she found her calling in cabaret and comedy music. She eventually moved to San Francisco to meet straight men, got involved in the once-thriving cabaret scene here (where her biggest challenge was convincing audiences she was a real woman, not a minimalist drag queen), and began writing special material for other singers, then private parties and corporate events.

Lauren worked for over 15 years with a partner, writing, producing and performing corporate theater for clients including Hewlett Packard, Wells Fargo, the California Funeral Directors and a convention of gynecologists, among others. When 9-11 wiped out most of their travel incentive business and her partner left the industry, Lauren worked as a vocal/performance coach and songwriter, releasing a comedy album, until her album led to a couple of gigs as a solo humorist, and voila, another speaker was born.

Pro-Track Profile

Lauren signed up for the the Northern California National Speakers Association (NSA) Pro-Track training this year to learn about the marketing and business end of promoting herself as a humorist - last time she did any marketing was before the internet, so it's definitely a new world.

When Lauren isn't at Pro-Track or entertainin audiences, she is a frazzled, sleep-deprived mom of 3 boys, ages 12, 15 and 42 (okay, one is her husband), and she recently released her second comedy album, "Return Of Psycho Super Mom."

You can reach Lauren (and hear her songs and read her comedy blog) at www.laurenmayer.com.

To hear her tips on how to be funny on the platform, and what not to say to a bald CEO, click on the podcast icon below.

On Thursday evening I taught a class in podcasting at the San Francisco SBA office. I took the opportunity to ask the class members why they were interested in podcasting.

Click on the podcast icon below to hear what they had to say.