For Your Approval

Inviting you to invite me

A few months ago I was inducted into the International Association of Business Communicators' speaker's bureau as an "IABC Recommended Speaker." I'm honored by the listing, which also comes with a couple of responsibilities -- that I provide a discount on my speaking fee for all IABC chapters, and speak for expenses only at two small to mid-sized IABC chapters (chapters with fewer than 200 members) per year.

If you belong to IABC, and would like me to come and give a talk or run a workshop for your chapter, let me know. Last year I had great visits to IABC Sydney and IABC Los Angeles and I'd love to do more.

Can you hear me, IABC UK? IABC Carribean? IABC Nashville? IABC Slovenia?

Your Master's Voice

Most CEOs don't write everything they say. They don't always have time, and some are not good writers. So they turn to us communicators, and we draft things for them. 

We fabricate quotes for news releases. We write speeches. For internal audiences, we draft the annual Christmas message, the CEO column in the newsletter, the town hall speech, the downsizing memo.

As long as the CEO is engaged in the process and cares about what he or she is communicating, this is not a bad thing. Some of the most fulfilling moments of my career have been when I'm helping a CEO be a better leader. "Shewchuk, you wrote the best words anyone has ever put in my mouth," said one CEO to me. That was a good day.

Putting words in CEOs mouths is a huge responsibility. With every word he or she says, employee trust is on the line. If for one second a leader sounds phony, disingenuous or bureaucratic, that trust begins to erode. Employees have extremely sensitive b.s. detectors, and when the alarm goes off, all ears are closed.

So it was with great interest that I read the quote of the day in today's New York Times. It's about 9/11, of course:

"For all Americans, this date will be forever entwined with sadness. But the memory of those we lost can burn with a softening brightness."
      - Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

NOT. That was finely pureed b.s. coming from the overpaid fingertips of the Mayor's speechwriter. It's a 'thousand points of light' for our time. And it's a little reminder that speechwriters should try to write things that their speaker might actually  say. Not only does it not sound like Bloomberg, it's just bad writing.

Don't get me wrong. A great speech can contain unusual and profound language that one would not hear in everyday conversation. JFK would never had said to his son, "Ask not what your mother can do for you. Ask what you can do for your mother." But it worked well in a speech.

But I digress. The point is, when you're writing for someone, write in his or her voice, not your own.

 

An easy way to integrate external and internal communications

I had the pleasure of attending last week's big 2006 Ragan Communications Speechwriter's Conference in Washington, D.C. One of the highlights was an overview of UPS' speaker's program, the most thoughtful, strategic, comprehensive and disciplined executive communications program on the planet.

During the presentation by Steve Soltis I was reminded of a simple tactic that can help organizations better integrate their external and internal communications: getting your executives to practice their external speeches on employeee audiences. The speaker gets to deliver his or her speech before a live audience that probably has some interesting and challenging questions, and the audience gets to hear about the company's position on an important issue or theme.

A great idea, but who else actually does it?