Cynthia J. Starks, executive speechwriter

The past few months have been a flurry of activity in my life – most specifically in my work life. As readers of this blog may remember, I’m a former corporate speechwriter who has had her own speechwriting business for some 15 years.

Recently, however, some of what’s happened to me – as well as some of the topics I’ve been writing about – got me thinking I’d like to return to a corporate speechwriting position.

First of all, a headhunter contacted me about a job as speechwriter to the CEO of a major global company on the East Coast. I was interviewed for the job, but did not get it.

The process was a lot of fun, however. I researched the company, met with the director of global communications, got excited about the CEO and the strategic value I could bring to the table. The salary and perks were great and I was happy thinking about being part of something larger than myself – something and someone I could commit to on a long-term basis. I was happy thinking about really getting to know one CEO, instead of writing for various CEOs and senior executives, as I do as a freelancer. I was excited about belonging.

In addition, I’m currently working on a speech for another global company. The topic is “the future of work.” In the course of my research, I’ve learned that a sense of connection is something company employees really value. In fact, one of the challenges in the future world of work will be how global employees separated by borders, time zones and cultures maintain that sense of connection.

All this by way of saying that my freelance shingle has been out a long time; perhaps it’s time to look around for someone else’s I can wear, someone else’s I can feel connected to.

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Last time, I wrote about the importance of getting to know the audience your speaker will be talking to so his speech will address their wants and needs.
This time, I’d like to continue by giving you a way of remembering the questions to ask in order to get this information. It’s an acronym that spells AUDIENCE, and it goes like this (courtesy of wikiHow):

Analysis:  Who is the audience?
Understanding:  What is the audience’s knowledge of the subject?
Demographics:  What is the age, gender, education background of audience members?
Interest:  Why are they here?
Environment:  Where will the speech be given?
Needs:  What are the audience’s needs associated with this speech?
Customization:  What specific needs/interests should the speaker address that relate to this specific audience?
Expectations:  What does the audience expect to learn from the speech? The audience should walk away having had their questions answered, their needs and wants satisfied.  

The wikiHow adds these tips on each category:

Analysis/Understanding: Defining the background of the audience aids the speechwriter in determining what information is already understood and what information needs to be included. More information may need to be included to help the audience understand and reach the conclusion your speech intends.

Demographics/Interest/ Environment: Demographic characteristics of the audience can help determine the style and content of the speech. Age groups, areas of residence, gender and political preferences, for example, are some characteristics to focus on. Paying attention to these aspects of the audience can also help sidestep any offensive remarks or topics that the audience would not relate to or appreciate.

Needs/Customization: If there is a wide variability in the audience, the speechwriter should write to the majority of the people who will be hearing the talk. But include some parts of the speech (examples, stories, etc.), that those in the minority at the event can relate to.

So, there you have it. Just memorize that acronym and you’ll never go wrong in your audience research. However, getting folks to provide the actual information you seek is a whole other story.  Good luck!

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Recently, I was hired to write speeches for two very different audiences. The first is an East Coast direct-marketing group interested in the latest and greatest print and social media marketing ideas. The second is an Indiana business group interested in both big-picture business trends and specifics on what they can do right now to prepare their businesses for the future.  

For these two talks, I am doing in-depth audience research to identify audience needs and wants so I can fashion speeches that truly resonate with them.

I turned to “wikiHow” for some ideas, and found what I was looking for. There, audience analysis is defined as “determining the important characteristics of an audience in order to choose the best style, format and information/arguments when writing or speaking.” It is “understanding the identity, personality and characteristics” the audience brings to the speaking event.

The wiki concludes, “If a speaker wants to persuade, inform, motivate, excite, scare, warn or cheer up an audience, then analyzing the people to whom he/she is speaking will enable him/her to choose the best words, stories, tone, style and delivery.”

Based on these suggestions, I put together a form with about 15-20 questions I would ask the event planners of each venue and also five-to-ten individuals planning to attend each one. 

Next time, I’ll share the “Event Overview” sheet I always prepare for my clients, which includes audience analysis, as well as the actual questions I asked to determine audience makeup.

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Gentle reader,

A little more than a month ago, I blogged about a speech I wrote and gave, subsequently featured in Vital Speeches of the Day, that led to my being recruited by a global company as speechwriter to its CEO. I promised to let you know the outcome.

Well, I flew back East for an interview and was scheduled for a second one, when I was told the company decided to consider only candidates currently in corporate speechwriting positions, not freelancers. I was disappointed…but the interview was a good experience and life goes on.

Since then, (file under “When God closes a door he opens a window”), I have picked up two new speechwriting clients, a global technology firm out East and a bio-science company here in Indianapolis.

For the former, I’m writing a speech for a vice president to give at a digital marketing event next month. For the latter, I’m writing a speech for the president and CEO to give to the Economic Club of Indianapolis in August.

The second speech involves a good deal of research about the changing landscape of the heartland in light of globalization, immigration and mega-farming. 

The book I’m reading about all this, Caught in the Middle, by Richard Longworth, is a fascinating look at the decline in auto manufacturing and family farming in the Midwest, and the rise of mega-farms and food conglomerates that require low-wage immigrant labor to support. 

The book reveals that a number of towns in this area were formed and thrived because one man invented something or began a business there. A town, a factory and a workforce grew around it. Examples include the Ball Brothers (canning jars) of Muncie, Indiana, the Maytags of Dayton, Ohio, and the Fords of Dearborn, Michigan.

But what happens when the founder and his immediate family members eventually die? Suddenly, the company is in the hands of new owners with no ties to Muncie or Dayton or Dearborn. They discover there’s no financial incentive to keep their factories in those towns, where long-time workers command a premium hourly wage. Globalization allows them to take the factories anywhere, most especially where labor is cheap and un-unionized.

But perhaps the more important part of the story is what happens to the towns and people left behind.

I find this fascinating. I love learning new things – especially the real-life implications of the forces driving a new global economy in the Midwest, where I moved from Connecticut in 2006.   

I think all good speechwriters love research; we’re lucky that speechwriting pays us to get smarter.

I know the foundation of this research will lead to a provocative and dynamic speech. It will put a local, human face on issues all of America is struggling with.

And perhaps it will encourage the Economic Club audience to think creatively about how to positively impact the future of our people and our country.

Life is good.

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Last Friday night, my husband and I went to the first hockey game of our lives. The game pitted the Indiana Ice against the Green Bay Gamblers in the playoffs for the Clark Cup (Indiana lost).

I had heard that hockey fans were rowdy, raucous and riled up. I hadn’t fully appreciated what that meant, nor had I seen hockey crowd mentality in action.  

As writers, we spend a lot of time observing human behavior, don’t we? What struck me Friday night was just how easily a crowd (audience) could be influenced to act as one.

For example, a man in our section started a chant – he would yell a word and the crowd would respond with another. It went like this: Man: GAMBLERS!… Crowd: SUCK!!  Man: GAMBLERS! … CROWD: SUCK!!  You get the drift. 

At other times, a certain tune was played over the speakers, at the end of which everyone shouted, “Go Ice!”
 
As the evening wore on and the game became more competitive, the crowd yelled scatological epithets, suggested how the opponents were conceived and illustrated same with finger and hand gestures. 

To show their dismay with various plays, people banged on the “glass” wall separating us from the players. It occurred to me then that the barrier exists as much to protect the players from attack by the crowd as it does the crowd from being hit by a puck.    

Motivational speakers work this way too (without the scatology). I’ve seen video of Tony Robbins, for example, in which he’s working the room and pumping up the audience with shouts, music and physical movements.

Does any of this apply to our speakers and their audiences? I think so. I’ve read and written about the need to engage all three senses of audience members when presenting. The best speakers appeal to verbal, visual and kinesthetic learners.

So, for example, at some point in your speech, you might want to ask the audience to get up and do some something physical – perhaps change seats with a neighbor.  You might want to engage them by asking a question and taking responses. You might want to repeat a line and ask them to sound it back at you.

Do you remember when Al Gore ran against George W. Bush in 2000? In his speeches, Gore would recite a litany of policy issues Bush had bungled, ending with, “It’s time for him to go.”

Pretty soon, Gore would ask: “What time is it?” And audiences would respond, “It’s time for him to go.”

If your speaker is talking about leadership, for example, he might have a simple white board next to him and ask audience members to shout out the qualities they believe leaders should possess. He adds them to the white board.

 When he’s got a variety of answers, such as integrity, honesty, ability to collaborate, etc., he begins his talk – having anticipated the qualities his audience would list – and addresses them. But now the audience is invested in the speech and more likely to pay attention to it.

I think it’s difficult for both speakers and speechwriters to try new ways of engaging and interacting with audiences. It’s risky, it’s scary and it turns some of the control of the situation over to the audience. But I think the payback can be huge.

Your speaker will stand out. She will not be like the 5,000 other speakers the audience has heard. She will be dynamic and audience-centered. And isn’t that what a speech is supposed to be anyway – not about the speaker’s needs but the audience’s? Most of all, the speech will be memorable.

So, give it some thought. I know I will. Just save your scatological terms for the next hockey game.

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Last time, I wrote about the wonderful experience I had at speechwriting guru Joan Detz’s “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting” seminar in Philadelphia in early April. Because Joan covered so much and gave the class so many tips, I thought I’d share a few more here.

The following ideas are specifically for freelance speechwriters, and focus on an area we may not have explored – the opportunity for international clients. 
      
 Geography is meaningless – you can do work for executives in the United States or in The Hague from your desk in Dubuque.

 If you’re doing work for multinational companies in the states right now, perhaps you can explore doing work for their executives abroad.

 On your LinkedIn profile, list the multinational companies you’re doing or have done work for. If you’re a member of IABC, spell out that it stands for International Association of Business Communicators. If you speak a foreign language, add that to your LinkedIn profile, whether you speak it fluently or only conversationally. These are the things that may get you noticed by executives working abroad.

 While you’re at it, on LinkedIn, list the industries for which you have written. This may attract other companies in those industries.

 Think about joining the Montreal, Toronto or UK chapters of IABC. These are large chapters, and you can network online, perhaps attend a meeting when you travel, and have access to its member directory. All good for identifying potential international clients.
 
 When you travel for pleasure, can you do something for your business at the same time? Touch base with a networking colleague, leave a letter and your resume for the head of corporate communications at a target company you’ve identified prior to your trip? Call the CEO and introduce yourself? (yes, Joan says you can call anyone you want – even the CEO).

 So, keep your passport updated and handy, ready for your trip to the airport to meet or serve your new international clients.

If these tips whet your appetite, you’ll just have to sign up for a class with Joan (www.joandeztz.com).

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The weekend of April 10, I travelled to Philadelphia to attend a speechwriters’ workshop with Joan Detz, master speechwriter, speaker coach and author of How to Write and Give a Speech, Can You Say a Few Words? and It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It.

The seminar was on “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting.” The all-day session was designed for freelance and corporate speechwriters skilled in writing speeches, but wanting new tips and techniques to add more value to the services they provide their clients.

In other words, information on how a speechwriter can stand out, help her clients succeed and command a six-figure income. 

Happily, the class was small enough for discussions tailored to the needs of each speechwriter.

Joan approaches the business of speechwriting in ways both creative and practical. I came home with lots of information and forms she uses to facilitate work with her clients. Now I can use them with mine.   

In terms of marketing yourself as a speechwriter, Joan focused on the speeches and other writing samples we should have in our portfolios; how to provide client service that goes above and beyond; going from staff to freelance or freelance to staff; serving international clients; and cultivating your best sources of business.

Speechwriters in attendance represented the banking, military and nuclear energy industries, as well as business consulting. Myself? Lately, I’ve been enjoying writing speeches for executives in the computer technology and biosciences industries.      

In the afternoon, “alumni” who had taken the class joined us to share what they’d learned and how they’re applying it in their current jobs or freelance businesses.

Joan gave us too many tips to cover in just one blog, so I’ll be writing about the class next time too.

But to start off, here are some ideas that resonated with me.   

1.  Joan urged us to “build your Rolodex,” by networking with each other. For example, one of the attendees, Adrianne, was fluent in Spanish. 

Joan saw the possibility that one of us, working for an international client, might need a speech translated from English to Spanish. Or, we might want to insert a Spanish quote or refer to a famous Spaniard in a talk. We could hire Adrianne as an hourly consultant to meet these needs. 

Joan also advised us to be sure our passports were up-to-date in case we received an overseas assignment. (Note to me: renew my passport!)

2.  Along these same lines, she encouraged us to become “conversational” in at least one foreign language. She suggested if we had taken a language in high school or college, we should brush up on it in a semester at a local college. Then, on our resume — and our LinkedIn site – we could cite that we were “conversational” in it.  And perhaps attract an international client.

Joan’s experience writing for international clients suggests they are appreciative when we can speak their language “conversationally,” not even “fluently.” They give us points for trying. 

Passing through the Philadelphia airport on my way home, I chatted with a fellow selling the Rosetta Stone language programs. I was sorely tempted to pick up sets for both French and Italian, the languages I took in high school/college (French) and on my own as an adult (Italian) some years ago.
 
3.  Concerning fees, we discussed what to charge as freelance speechwriters. This was helpful to me and the other writers. Joan’s tip: The less lead time a client gives you to produce a speech, the more you should charge.

Until next time, then, when I’ll share more of what I learned with Joan Detz www.joandetz.com and “The Business of Six-Figure Speechwriting.”

In the meantime, parlez-vous francais?

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Recently, I blogged about a resource for speechwriters called The Standard Directory of Advertisers. Sometimes called The Big Red Book of Advertisers, it’s a reference book listing all the companies in the nation that spend advertising dollars, and have marketing and communications staffs.

The book contains both contact information for those folks and a wealth of information about the companies themselves.

A second resource is called The Kennedy Directory of Executive Recruiters. This reference book, like the Big Red Book, is found in larger libraries. It, too, is an excellent source of information for speechwriters – freelance or on staff – looking to find their first, or next, corporate speechwriting position.

The executive recruiter directory is organized by industry and by state. So, for example, if you’re interested in a speechwriting position in the computer industry, you can find recruiters who specialize in placing people in that industry. If you’d like to work with a recruiter in your home state or the state where you’d like to locate, recruiters are also listed this way.  

At the library, I copied pages of interest to me. These included listings of executive recruiters in the telecommunications, computer, aerospace, consumer goods, higher education and defense industries. And they included those recruiters specializing in placing communications, marketing, public relations, publishing and editorial professionals.    

I hope this information is helpful and I hope you soon land the freelance or corporate speechwriting job of your dreams.

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This is the story of a speech and its unexpected path.
 
On Feb. 16, as readers of this blog may remember, I gave a speech at the Columbia Club of Indianapolis on “How to Write a Speech.” The talk was well received (audience members filled out speech evaluation forms) and I submitted it to David Murray’s influential publication, Vital Speeches of the Day.

It appears in the April issue, alongside speeches given by President Barack Obama, John Lechlieter, CEO of Eli Lilly, and Paula Kerger, PBS CEO.

In and of itself, this is a thrill for me.

But there’s more.

Back on the East Coast, the head of global communications for a multi-national company is looking for a speechwriter for her CEO. She picks up her copy of Vital Speeches, reads my talk and likes it. She contacts the recruiting company working to help fill the position and tells it of her interest in me.

The recruiter contacts me, and a few days later I’m on a plane heading back East to interview with the company for the position of director of executive communications.

No hiring decision has been made yet, but I will apprise you of the outcome, dear reader.
 
This series of events gives me such hope…such hope that all the little steps we take in our careers might one day converge in a glorious opportunity we never could have imagined coming our way.

All the time you spend networking, joining clubs and organizations, writing blogs, producing speeches, sending out resumes, contacting companies, doing pro bono work, all of it, all of it, will one day come back to you in wonderful and surprising ways.

All the little pieces of yourself you put out into the universe, all the prayers you pray, all the dreams you dream. One day they will all converge in the client you were hoping for, the job of your dreams, the recognition you deserve.

Keep on doing all the good things you are doing to further your career…and to enhance the lives of those around you. The universe is noticing.

Have faith. Believe.      

My speech has taken an unexpected and wonderful trip. Some call what’s happened to me coincidence, chance or serendipity.

I like to call it God.

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