MBB: Would a speech writer approach an inaugural speech with different goals in mind than a campaign stump speech?
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 391.
TSL: The speechwriter's task in an inaugural address is to tap into the true language of leadership, language that does makes us feel something in our gut and inspires us to follow. It is language that can make us see ourselves in a new, more focused light; language that reveals something about who we are and what we stand for as a people; language that unmasks a mystery or consoles us in times of tragedy or trouble. A great inaugural speech should reach into our collective soul to touch what is most human in the human spirit. Other speeches are more limited in scope, more issue oriented, demanding a more analytical presentation of facts and figures.
As I said above, the speechwriter's fundamental task in drafting an inaugural message is to understand the difference between a timeless speech and a more specific time-limited speech like a state of the union message or political speech that might be more poll driven and focuses on issues of the moment.
MBB: How is writing a speech different from writing a lecture, or a short story? Do speeches have a narrative arc, a climax and a dénouement, like, say, great works of fiction?
TSL: A speech is not bound by the rigid grammatical rules we associate with the written word. A speech is dialogue, a long monologue. What may appear, on the page, to be an incomplete or run-on sentence might achieve a compelling cadence or rhythm that works well when spoken. We do not always speak as logically as we write. And those listening to a speech are not following the logic of the speaker, but reacting emotionally to the words. That's why a well-written paper on a particular topic does not a great speech make, though too often politicians and businessmen believe that their most talented policy personnel are perfectly capable of writing their next keynote address. Not true! Speechwriting is a specific talent, an art unto itself. It requires an appreciation of the sound of words and an understanding that a good speech depends on the sound the words make, and the story they tell.