The G20 Summit in Australia ends. The assembled leaders start the long flights home. The results are in the communique, a classic example of a dull, badly written, important text: We have agreed on a set of voluntary leading practices to promote and prioritise quality investment, particularly in infrastructure. To […]
It turns out that there are all sorts of unexpected things that create panic or unease in people. Many of them have fancy scientific names: Fear of buttons Koumpounophobia Fear of doorknobs […]
UPDATE The key zero-zero soundbite in this speech (below) is already causing controversy for being, how best to put this, simply wrong. Ed Miliband has been quick to put out a subtly different version to try to fix the mess! But the original tendentious version is still out there proudly on […]
This week I have been rummaging around in my memory to find examples of where I did some good media interviews, and where things went awry for some reason or another. As if by magic, one high-profile but short-lived mess returned to my life today. I find South African journalist Peter […]
There I was, over in Geneva at a top international organisation watching officials there make short presentations to improve their public speaking skills. It was notable that some of them (not least those with a French accent) began in a deadening way by breaking down the question posed and defining […]
In case you’re all wondering, my eBook Speechwriting for Leaders is coming along very nicely. A bold and amusing cover is being designed (every e-Book needs a bold and amusing eCover) and the substance is entering the layout and final edit phase. The problem for any great artist with any work […]
Mulling over my latest piece for PunditWire I started to look at one of President Obama’s rhetorical tics: his use of the word ‘clear’. Take, for example, his 10 September statement on US policy towards ISIL/ISIS. Three hits! Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not “Islamic.” Our objective is […]
Now and again I give presentations to schools on Lessons for Life. These boil down to some simple ideas: Things grow Keep your balance Be honest Don’t be stupid Guard your reputation A good way to illustrate most of these ideas is to present a lively example of someone thinking he’s been […]
This ever-interesting subject is featured in my e-book, Speechwriting for Leaders. Coming to your tablets soon, I hope. Here’s part of what I say: How do you achieve that strong start? For a speechwriter it’s mainly about words. But a speaker engages an audience on many different levels simultaneously: eyes, […]
I have finished a more or less first full draft for my first book (an e-book in fact) provisionally called Speechwriting for Leaders. The idea is to do something that few if any other speechwriting and public speaking books have done, and look at speechwriting from three angles, where the […]
