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The lost art of speechmaking: four veteran wordsmiths reveal the secrets of writing and delivering effective speeches
Campaigns & Elections, June-July, 1993 by Mary G. Gotschall
Churchill's five principles on language have inspired Humes:
1. Begin strongly. "Don't start off with a stupid joke," warns Humes. "Don't say, 'It gives me great pleasure to be here today'."
2. Have one theme. "Know in one sentence what you want the audience to walk away with," advises Humes. "Be able to write it on the back of a pack of matches."
3. Use simple language. Avoid the passive voice and polysyllabic Latinate words. Eisenhower preferred bureaucratic words like "finalize" but Churchill would have said "finish" or "end."
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4. Always paint a picture in the listener's mind. "People can't see 'cost benefit' or 'capital insufficiency'," says Humes. But Churchill's use of the term "iron curtain," for example, drove home to the American people the threat of communism across Eastern Europe. "You could almost hear the gate come crashing down."
5. End on emotion -- be it patriotism, love of God, or love of family.
Humes advises giving the same speech over and over. "When you hear a great speech, you know it's something someone has delivered many times," he says.
Self-Deprecating Humor
Landon Parvin, renowned political humorist, believes that good speakers are few and far between.
"Corporate speakers are light years behind the research on how to reach an audience," he observes. "Most CEOs should stay home and not give speeches. They tend to list a lot of information and data. They have nothing to say."
Parvin cautions against using self-deprecating humor too liberally in a speech. "It only works if the speaker has power and authority and the audience knows it," he says. Women speakers should be especially careful. Parvin says that "unless the woman is very well-known and powerful, self-deprecating humor is not effective, because there are men out there who would believe it."
An example of a powerful woman who successfully pulled it off: Nancy Reagan. And Parvin was her speechwriter. It occurred at the 1982 Gridiron Dinner, when Parvin instructed the First Lady to sing a self-deprecating song entitled "Secondhand Clothes" -- sung to the tune of "Secondhand Rose."
The spoof brought down the house and helped soften Mrs. Reagan's reputation for hauteur. It also firmly established Parvin as a jokemeister extraordinaire.
What's the secret to writing funny lines?
"You take the truth and skew it a bit. The laugh comes in the truth," says Parvin.
He thinks Texas Governor Ann Richards is the best political speaker in the country today. Another speaker Parvin likes is H. Ross Perot: "He's nasal and twangy but he connects with the audience." Parvin used him as an example in his seminars even before the Texan's presidential bid.
Mary G. Gotschall writes a monthly column for Speechwriter's Newsletter. This article was excerpted from columns that originally appeared in that newsletter.
COPYRIGHT 1993 Campaigns & Elections, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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