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Cynthia J. Starks

Every writer needs an editor, even if it’s you

by Cynthia J. StarksJuly 24, 2010

I’m reading a wonderful book called The Lost Art of the Great Speech: How to Write One, How to Deliver It, by Richard Dowis, an award-winning speechwriter and retired senior vice president of Manning, Selvage and Lee.
The book is chock full of great writing tips and world-class speeches by everyone from Washington, Lincoln, Churchill and [...]

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Blogging more than lead generation, you say

by Cynthia J. StarksJuly 19, 2010

In my last blog, I confessed that my year-old blog on speechwriting has not brought me any business. I asked readers to let me know if their blogs brought them business and, if not, what value they saw in blogging. I got some great responses I’ll share with you now.
Ian Griffin, who writes a [...]

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‘Fess up: Has your blog brought you any business?

by Cynthia J. StarksJuly 12, 2010

 Today, dear friends in the speechwriting and writing blogosphere, I have a serious question: Has your blog brought you any business?
 I have been writing a blog on speechwriting for 13 months. It has been featured on a variety of Web sites, including the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Vital Speeches of the Day, Ragan [...]

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Me and my shadow…collaboratin’ like crazy

by Cynthia J. StarksJuly 8, 2010

A speech I’ve been writing for a new client has the “benefits of collaboration” as a major theme, so I’ve been researching the topic. In doing so, I was delighted to come across Keith Sawyer’s, Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration.
I was doubly delighted to learn that even we solo practitioners – we lonely freelance [...]

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Evaluating the speechwriter, Part 2

by Cynthia J. StarksJuly 5, 2010

A few blogs ago, I wrote about asking my clients to evaluate me as a speechwriter. I had not done this before. I had always focused on having audiences evaluate the speech itself, but I decided to be more pro-active and customer-focused by putting together an evaluation sheet to help clients evaluate their experience of [...]

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Speechwriters and speakers should “die harder”

by Cynthia J. StarksJune 28, 2010

I caught the original Die Hard movie on TV the other day, and remembered why I love it. First, there’s a young, virile Bruce Willis (with hair) – so cool, so tough, so much the hero. Sigh…
Then, there’s the plot – so simple it’s genius. On Christmas Eve, NYPD Detective John McClane visits his estranged [...]

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Evaluate the speechwriter? Eeek!

by Cynthia J. StarksJune 22, 2010

It’s something I should have done a long time ago, but I confess I never have. What is it?  Ask my clients to evaluate my services after I’ve written a speech for them. I know it’s the right thing to do in an uber-competitive, consumer-driven, customer-feedback world. And I know it’s the professional thing to [...]

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A speechwriter asks: Why cite successes of WW II and space program in Gulf disaster speech?

by Cynthia J. StarksJune 17, 2010

I must confess I wasn’t thrilled when I heard President Obama’s Tuesday night speech on the Gulf oil disaster.
But today, when I actually read the full speech, I thought much better of it.
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? As speechwriters, we compose some mighty fine prose, but sometimes “between the idea and the reality,” as [...]

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Speechwriter reflects on where life takes us

by Cynthia J. StarksJune 12, 2010

The other night I watched a PBS special featuring a singing group called 4Troops, made up of four Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.
While on the front lines in Iraq, Meredith Melcher’s ambulance platoon successfully evacuated hundreds of injured Americans and Iraqis to higher levels of medical treatment. She is 29.
David Clemo, 30, first provided communications [...]

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A speechwriter asks: How much research is too much?

by Cynthia J. StarksJune 6, 2010

These days, I seem to be having trouble saying “enough is enough” to myself when it comes to doing research for a speech. Do you have this problem too?
I recently was hired to write a speech on the “The Future of Work,” for the head of HR at a global corporation. The speech is being [...]

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