Writing speeches

I have never written a speech.

I consider myself a good writer, but I have never written a speech. And the truth is, I can't. Speeches are different. They are heard. The words you write are meant to be heard, not read.

Your art as a writer now has a medium. It is not from paper [or screen] to their brains. Someone must read it. The dissemination of your work has become complex.

Here's how it works—it has to do its usual function of being read by the speaker. It also has to communicate how it wants to be read. It also has to be heard the way it was written.

The words we read and the words we say, in the same context for the same purpose can be mean different things purely because of the medium you received them.

How did I find out?

I have been watching a lot of political shows recently. I started with Designated Survivor, and now, I am on Madam Secretary. And asides the usual main characters, the people I consistently look out for are the Comms and the Speech Writer guys.

Seth Wright and Matt Mahoney are really interesting characters.

Matt thinks in adjectives. He describes the moment in words and phrases. Every time!

Seth thinks in sentences—let's call it events, if you will. For Seth, he paints a scenario.

The people they write for, of course, need the charisma and tone to properly communicate these speeches. But I can't help but think that these speeches are written to fit how they talk.

The inflections, the pauses, the jokes, etc—everything comes out right.

I tried writing a speech once for myself.

It was an absolute disaster.

So, I have a personal assignment this week. I want to find the speech drafts of great presidents around the world—modern and ancient. On my list is Eisenhower, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Macron, Obama, Putin, Mandela.

I can't wait to see what I learn.

And yes!

I speak different from I write. Not too different, but you can tell the tone apart.

Anyways, it's a Monday—again.

Let's get this shit.

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