Talk about timely!

I recently participated in a lively blog conversation about writers/speechwriters being asked to produce new material or undergo writing “tests” – in addition to providing writing samples from their portfolios and/or websites – when being considered for work by new clients or organizations.

There was a lot of discussion about the reasons potential clients or employers might request this, weren’t our existing writing samples enough, and how or even should we be compensated for producing this work.     Then along comes a Harvard Business Review piece called, “Projects Are the New Job Interviews,” that may settle the question for good.

The May 10 article states, “Resumes are dead. Interviews are largely ineffectual. LinkedIn is good. Portfolios are useful. But projects are the future of hiring, especially knowledge-worker hiring. Serious firms will increasingly ask serious candidates to do serious work in order to get serious jobs.”

This new way of getting work is being called “project-lications” or “appli-jects.” The article goes on: “Forget the ‘What’s your greatest weakness?’ interrogatory genre; the real question will be how well candidates can rise to the ‘appliject’ challenge and help redesign a social media campaign, document a tricky bit of software, edit a Keynote presentation, produce a webinar or peer review a CAD layout for a contract Chinese manufacturer.

“Exploitative?” the author asks? “Perhaps. But most organizations have learned the hard way that no amount of interviewing, reference checking and/or psychological testing is a substitute for actually working with a candidate on a real project.”

The article suggests that organizations that have job candidates’ work on a project prior to hiring are, in fact, making the hiring process “more holistic” rather than “over the wall,” and that they consider this aspect of hiring part of the larger on-boarding process.

It also suggests that just as job candidates get better at understanding and managing the interview process, they will also learn how to excel at “project-lications” and how to sniff out which are genuine invitations to success and which ones are sleazy bids for cheap labor, as we’ve discussed in our blog conversations on this topic.

Finally, the writer states, “It’s worth something to know what it’s like to really work with one’s colleagues on a real project as opposed to the all-too-misleading charade of iterative interviews.” Amen!

If the trends in this article hold true, more and more potential clients and organizations will ask us to produce new, “in the moment” work before they make any of us an offer.

I say, “Bring it on!

I just ran down a list of some of the noteworthy speakers slated to deliver commencement addresses to college graduates around the country this month. As speechwriters ourselves, it might be fun and informative to see what these speakers have to say – because they may be wonderful, like Steve Jobs’ 2005 address at Harvard, or they may remind us of how an important talk can fall flat. I know I’ll be listening to see what they have to say.

Here we go, in no particular order:

Academy-award winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin will give the commencement address at Syracuse University; NBC news anchor Brian Williams will speak at George Washington University; Katie Couric will be at her alma mater, the University of Virginia; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will speak at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and First Lady Michelle Obama will speak at Oregon State, Virginia Tech and North Carolina A&T.

Tom Brokaw will speak at Arizona State and Bill Nye, “The Science Guy,” will give the address at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonya Sotomayor will give graduation remarks at New York University’s commencement; author Fareed Zakaria will speak at Duke and Harvard universities, and Jim Lehrer, public broadcasting journalist and presidential debate moderator, will speak at the College of William and Mary.

CNN Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will speak at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, while President Barak Obama will give the commencement address at Barnard College in New York. Journalist Christiane Amanpour will speak at the University of Southern California. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will speak at Northeastern University and IBM Chairman of the Board Sam Palmisano will speak at his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University.

Ira Glass, host of public radio’s “This American Life,” will speak at Goucher College; Steve Carrell will entertain graduates at Princeton; Barbara Walters will speak at Yale; and “Mythbuster” Adam Savage will give the address at Sarah Lawrence College.

I hear there’s a push for Tim Tebow to speak at Cornell, but the school’s website notes the university president will give the commencement address. Oh well…we can dream.

Anyway, a diverse group of speakers at a variety of institutions of higher education. Should be an exciting and interesting month.

Last year on these pages I praised President Barack Obama’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech as clever, topical and funny. This year, not so much.

The Washington Hilton ballroom talk last night began with a supposedly open mike in the president’s bathroom. There, we hear Obama asking an aide why he’s opening for Jimmy Kimmel when he’s the one holding “the nuclear codes;” what Kim Kardashian is famous for; whether he could use a little “Just for Men” on his graying hair; how he’ll speak without a teleprompter, and that he could “really use a cigarette” right now. This setup ends with a loud toilet flush before Obama enters the stage for his “real” remarks. Eeewww!

Maybe it’s just me, as they say, but I find it more than a little crude that the President of the United States would use a loud toilet flush to set the stage for anything!  And think it funny.

His remarks continued on the uncouth side when he contrasted four years ago to today, saying “Four years ago, I was locked in a brutal primary battle for the White House with Hillary Clinton. Today, she can’t stop drunk-texting me from Cartegena.” Really?

Obama moves from bathroom humor to dog jokes in light of recent “accusations” the president ate dog meat as a child growing up in Indonesia. He begins with this: “Even Sarah Palin is getting back into the game, guest hosting on The Today Show — which reminds me of an old saying: What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? A pit bull is delicious. (pause) A little soy sauce.”  Ugh.

He continues, “Of course, I know everybody is predicting a nasty election, and thankfully, we’ve all agreed that families are off limits. Dogs, however, are apparently fair game.” To illustrate, up pops a video showing the differences between Obama’s treatment of his dog and Romney’s of his. It ends with a view of Romney as president standing on the steps of Air Force One, his dog carrier strapped to the roof of the plane. Please, control your laughter.

Obama ends the segment this way, “That’s pretty rough but I can take it because my stepfather always told me, it’s a boy-eat-dog world out there.”  I’ll give him that one.

Continuing in the bad taste department, though, he sought to top his dog jokes with this: “In my first term, we repealed the policy known as ‘don’t ask, don’t tell;’ in my second term, we will replace it with a policy known as, ‘it’s raining men.’” Yuk-yuk? Or just plain yuk?

Not everything was cringe-worthy. I laughed when Obama showed pix of himself as he was four years ago – cheery with dark hair; today, solemn with more gray hair and, finally, “This is what I’ll look like in four more years” – a picture of a haggard Morgan Freeman. I also thought this was funny, “Take Mitt Romney — he and I actually have a lot in common. We both think of our wives as our better halves, and polls show, to an alarmingly insulting extent, the American people agree. We also both have degrees from Harvard; I have one, he has two. What a snob.”

But listening to the inappropriateness and un-funniness of many of Obama’s “jokes,” put me in mind of what we all know so well about writing for executives – no off-color jokes, no ethnic/racial jokes, no jokes that might be offensive. I suppose when you’re president of the United States you can ignore the rules, but I think last night’s remarks suggest you do so at your own peril.

I would suggest that like President Obama’s focus and messages of late, his humor may also be out of sync with that of many regular Americans.

I’ve just had the distinct pleasure of reading Fletcher Dean’s new book, 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech. All I can say is “Wow!” Actually, I can say a lot more; let me begin.

Dean’s book successfully combines excellent advice, practical tips and real-life examples of the best in speechwriting. Using this book as a guide, we will become more thoughtful, creative and dynamic speechwriters, as well as strategic thinkers and advisors to our executives. Organized in clear, concise chapters, Dean’s book takes us step-by-step through everything we need to know about speechwriting – from audience analysis and topic research to story, structure and style. This book hits all the vital notes.

Dean also helps speechwriters think strategically about when PowerPoint is appropriate and when it’s not, as well as how to design and use PowerPoint to best advantage for both speaker and audience.

In his Introduction, “Who Do You Write For?” Dean provides the answer by quoting former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca: “If a speaker begins with a deep sense of obligation to the audience, everything else falls into place.” And so it does.

Throughout his chapter “Know Thy Audience,” Dean suggests we do not only typical demographic research on our audiences (age, gender, racial/ethnic/cultural makeup, educational background, etc.), but that we delve deeper into their “psychographics” – that is, their general beliefs and attitudes, including those toward the topic and the speaker. Dean even provides an “Audience Profile Checklist” with which to capture this information and have at hand as we begin the speechwriting process.

While I can say from personal experience that this is no easy task, I also know that the more information we can gather the more targeted and appropriate our speaker’s remarks will be.

In a following chapter, Dean details the five speech types that form the Communications Hierarchy. Ranging from those that “inform” to those that seek to “elicit action,” Dean helps us codify our speeches and write to achieve their purposes.   In another chapter, Dean explains the components of a speech and how to creatively write an opening, the body of the speech and the conclusion. He suggests a robust body include statistics, anecdotes, quotations, testimony, stories, personal examples and humor, and addresses successfully incorporating visuals into our speaker’s talks.

In the chapter called “Tell me A Story,” Dean provides a number of reasons why stories are so important in speeches. They “bring the material to life,” “get passed along,” “are more believable,” “reach across cultures, ages and ethnic divisions,” “entertain” and “enhance delivery,” among others. The world is full of stories, Dean asserts, which can be found in customer letters, organizational history, biographies, fables, movies and books and, of course, from your executive’s own life.

In an excellent and detailed chapter on speech structure, Dean walks us through the various types of structure. In another one, he has us focus on style – from using simple words and sentences to asking rhetorical questions and from translating statistics into manageable bites to adding self-effacing humor.

Not content to provide a terrific book on the art and craft of speechwriting itself, Dean includes a wonderful chapter on “Helping Your Executive Succeed.” Here, Dean delves into the role of speechwriter as counselor, speaking coach, fashion consultant and event manager.  These are critical roles good speechwriters may also play.

If I may add a personal note, I think this book resonated for me so strongly because I recently left a corporate speechwriting position where I was allowed to do none of this. I had no access to the CEO; therefore, I could not develop a relationship with him that might have resulted in personal stories to insert in his speeches. I was discouraged from doing any audience research and from using the research I did on event locales, for example, to develop creative and interesting speech openings. For a speech he was to give in Paris, I was forbidden from contacting him to find out if he had ever been to Paris before; I had hoped to add an anecdote about a previous visit.

Dean reminds us of what the best speechwriting entails – creativity, access, openness and hard work. But in doing so, he also reminds us of the environments we should be looking to work in so that we may produce the very best speeches we can for our executives.

In closing, the other thing I like about this book is that I believe Dean wrote it out of love – love for the art and craft of speechwriting. But also love for us – fellow speechwriters who toil in obscurity and also love what we do.

I wholeheartedly endorse this book and have learned many new things from it. You will too. And at only 109 pages, it’s a quick read.

Note: Fletcher Dean is an award-winning writer of speeches and articles for a wide variety of business, educational and motivational speeches. In 2008, he won the Cicero Speechwriting Awards Grand Prize for best speech of the year, and he has won three other Cicero Awards. He has more than 20 years of experience as a communications professional.

With a great introduction by David Murray, 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech is readily available at the Vital Speeches of the Day website, http://www.vsotd.com

I’ve been reading some lovely new poetry lately and thinking about the poems I memorized in school and the ones I studied in college and grew to love. I was also thinking that once upon a time, speakers used poetry in their remarks to illustrate a point, bolster a position or reinforce a strong emotion or belief.

When Robert F. Kennedy spoke to a crowd in Indianapolis on the April night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder, he said this:  “We have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times. My favorite poem, my — my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:

Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget

falls drop by drop upon the heart,

until, in our own despair,

against our will,

comes wisdom

through the awful grace of God.”

In writing on “Winston Churchill’s Poetic Speeches of World War II,” Paul Millward says: “Churchill was in effect a poet in the guise of a politician. He used his ability to manipulate words into unforgettable speeches, thus instilling the listener with incredible fortitude. This particular speech transcends its political context and becomes a literary tour de force, which actually reads as if it were written in verse form:

“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip

of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,

We shall fight on the seas and oceans,

We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our

Island whatever the cost may be,

We shall fight on the beaches,

We shall fight on the landing grounds,

We shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

We shall fight in the hills;

We shall never surrender.”

Even Cassius Clay (before he was Mohammed Ali) got in on using poetry in speeches. He penned and delivered this fun poem about what he would do to his opponent, Sonny Liston, when they met in battle for the world heavyweight title on February 25, 1964.

“Clay comes out to meet Liston and Liston starts to retreat,

if Liston goes back an inch farther he’ll end up in a ringside seat.

Clay swings with his left, Clay swings with his right,

Look at young Cassius carry the fight

Liston keeps backing, but there’s not enough room,

It’s a matter of time till Clay lowers the boom.

Now Clay lands with a right, what a beautiful swing,

And the punch raises the Bear clean out of the ring.

Liston is still rising and the ref wears a frown,

For he can’t start counting till Sonny goes down.

Now Liston is disappearing from view, the crowd is going frantic,

But radar stations have picked him up, somewhere over the Atlantic.

Who would have thought when they came to the fight?

That they’d witness the launching of a human satellite.

Yes the crowd did not dream, when they put up the money,

That they would see a total eclipse of the Sonny.”

Let me know what you think. Does poetry has a place in the public speaking of politicians or corporate executives these days?

This week’s Newsweek cover story, “Forget the Church; Follow Jesus,” is a powerful indictment of how the church hierarchy in mainstream Protestantism, Roman Catholicism and Evangelical Christianity is failing its members and, in the process, becoming less relevant to our country and culture as a whole.

Author Andrew Sullivan suggests this failure stems from a focus on things that Jesus himself never spoke of or taught – abortion, contraception, pornography, gay marriage – at the expense of those things Christ did teach – love one another, turn the other cheek, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner.

In modern times, these teachings mean ending wars, welcoming the immigrant, supporting labor, the poor, the weak, the powerless. As a lifelong practicing Catholic and the product of a Catholic women’s college, the article was difficult and disheartening to read, even as I recognized the truth in much of it.

Sullivan, a gay Catholic, is not suggesting that we forgo attendance at Mass, receipt of the sacraments, or participation in our local churches which, to many of us, are an important part of our lives.  He is suggesting, however, that the church hierarchy no longer speaks for many of us and has, in fact, lost its way.

Senator Hubert Humphrey once said, “The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.”

If the same moral test were applied to our churches, I believe the Catholic Church would get a high grade. There are many priests and Catholic communities helping immigrants and migrant workers, advocating for those unjustly imprisoned, working as missionaries with the poor in third-world countries, and protecting Christians who live in places where they are persecuted.  The Catholic Church itself is the largest provider of healthcare in the U.S. and the largest charitable organization in the world.

But if we listen only to what comes out of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, the Catholic League or Pope Benedict XVI, we might not know it. Like the CEO of a large company or a Wall Street investment banker, the hierarchy of the church seems to have forgotten what it’s like for the “little guy.” From their positions of power, church leaders seem out of touch and out of step with their flocks’ day-to-day concerns and needs.

But not so long ago, we heard from a priest who really got in the trenches, fought for the common man and put himself in danger doing so. It was Father Barry in “On the Waterfront,” played by Karl Malden.  I recently learned that the character was based on a real-life priest, Father John M. Corridan, a Jesuit, who operated a Roman Catholic labor school on the west side of Manhattan. He was extensively interviewed by scriptwriter Budd Schulberg, who also wrote the foreword to a biography of Father Corridan, called Waterfront Priest by Allen Raymond.

Listen to this brief video clip of what Father Barry has to say about Jesus and where he can be found. And then remember, the Catholic hierarchy is not the church. We, the people, are the living, breathing body of Christ.

Happy Easter.

Sometimes the things politicians say, and think we’ll believe, are truly astonishing. It’s as if they inhabit a strange parallel universe where they believe everyone but them is an idiot.

Case in point: The tragic February death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida at the hands of George Zimmerman, a member of a neighborhood watch program called “Stand Your Ground.”

After waiting a few weeks, so his remarks would not be inappropriate in light of the investigation underway, the President spoke thoughtfully and personally about the terrible incident in response to a reporter’s question.

The president said, “I can only imagine what these parents are going through, and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.” He continued, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” Referring to Trayvon’s parents, the President said, “I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans take this with the seriousness that it deserves, and we’re going to get to the bottom of what happened.” He suggested, in light of the incident, Americans might do some “soul-searching.”

His remarks were compassionate, appropriate and heartfelt, I thought.

But then Newt Gingrich weighed in from his strange parallel universe.   Gingrich called Obama’s remarks, “disgraceful” on Sean Hannity’s radio show. “Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be OK because it didn’t look like him? That’s just nonsense dividing this country up. Trying to turn it into a racial issue is fundamentally wrong. I really find it appalling.”

Nonsense like this is why Newt Gingrich will never be president.

Obama was expressing what poet John Donne wrote many years ago: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind.”

Go back, Newt, go back. I’ll buy the ticket. Just stay there this time.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog about businesses I couldn’t write for in good conscience. At the time, they included those that sold alcohol, cigarettes, were involved in abortion, such as Planned Parenthood, or were in the pornography or gambling industries.

Since that time, and since learning about the way Apple treats its employees in China, for example, I’ve placed additional industries on my virtual list of those I would have trouble writing for. I’m beginning to wonder where it will end.

I am a Catholic woman called to be “in” the world but not “of” it, and to live a life that exemplifies my religion’s “preferential option for the poor.” This means, among other things, supporting candidates and legislation that help the poor, the immigrant, the abandoned, the forgotten among us. Does it also mean holding certain businesses or industries to these standards?

Let me explain. I just left an executive speechwriting position with a global telecommunications company on the East Coast. When I began work there, I was surprised to see that the company sold more than 20 different types of cell phones at its stores and online. During the nine months I spent there, it introduced more than 20 additional mobile smartphones. After a while, the minute differences in speed or snazzy app among all those phones were totally overwhelming to me and, I suspect, to most customers and salespeople.

In addition, depending on their capabilities, some of those phones were priced at $199 or $299 when brand new. But just a few months later, as the company pushed a still newer “latest and greatest” phone, the ones that were “must haves” just weeks or months earlier, were now selling for $99 or $49 or were free altogether with a new two-year contract.

Writing to promote the consumerism and materialism encouraged by most American and global companies does not sit well with my values and beliefs.

All of this raises larger questions I’m not prepared to take on in this blog. What do companies owe consumers? What do they owe their workers? Their shareholders? The country at large?

And what does it all mean for me as a freelance speechwriter trying to make a living?  Toward what end am I prepared to put my skills and talents to work?

I’m not sure I know right now. But perhaps this is one of the reasons I’ve begun work on a memoir/family history, and why I will look much more favorably on speechwriting assignments from colleges and universities, non-profits agencies and organizations, and certain government agencies than I ever have before.

Last week I wrote my first blog in a long time, after leaving a corporate speechwriting position that didn’t work out. I wrote of my interest in writing a memoir/family history and the discouragement I received from family members.

Your responses were tremendously kind, supportive and heartwarming – all encouraging me to move forward with the project. Here’s a sampling of what you said: Kim M. wrote, “Cynthia, please write your memoir. I think your husband and sister are wrong. Most of us are ordinary people living ordinary lives and reading about others like us, who can put words together beautifully is enjoyable, comforting and something we will pay for…”

Tony H. wrote, “A very warm welcome back to the freelance world! And ‘buona fortuna’ with your memoir.” My friend Hal V. wrote, “Cynthia, everyone has stories to tell – but you tell them much better than most.” Limor, writing all the way from Israel, wrote, “Cynthia, you have such a beautiful way with words that anything you write about will be magical and human.” And John D. added, “Go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Only those who have nothing except their fears will say ‘Stop, don’t do it.’” I think John is on to something.

There were more, all in the same vein. I was humbled by what you wrote. And your messages reminded me, after being away from blogging for a while, what wonderful people writers are. We are a special breed. You understand that writing is a spiritual journey – whether we do it for a corporation, a non-profit, a university, an agency, a newspaper, or for ourselves late at night when the children are in bed because something inside us wants to be heard.

Just as I have been loved and encouraged and supported by all of you, I want you to know that I love and encourage and support all of you back. We all have dreams, don’t we? We all have stories to tell. Something in us shouts, “I was here! I lived. I made a difference.” And more than that, “I understand you. I’ve had the same dark thoughts as you have. I’ve also been low and mean and greedy. I’ve sinned. I’m fallen. I’m human.”

In our writing we share our own humanity so that both we and our readers know we are not alone. It’s no mean feat. The French writer Anais Nin has said, “The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.” Good writers, courageous writers, meaningful writers say for us all “what we are unable to say.”

I’m so happy to be back among you. I feel like I’m in a warm and loving cocoon of like minds. I truly love and value you. God bless you and all that you write. And thank you for your friendship. It means everything to me.

With apologies to Shakespeare, I lift my glass to all of us, “We few, we happy few, we band of writers…”

Gentle Reader, I’ve missed you. Nine months ago, I took a job as a speechwriter to the CEO of an East Coast telecommunications company where I had hoped to work for some time. It was not to be, and last Friday was my last day with the company. The good news is that I’m back in business as a freelance executive speechwriter and get to return to writing my blog again, which I love. Here’s my first piece in a long time.

Infinity in a Little Room

Many moons ago, when I wrote speeches for the Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, I heard about a local senior citizens center that had published a book of essays by its members, called We All Have Stories to Tell. I thought then, as I do now, that it was a wonderful title and an excellent creative project. Not only did the seniors enjoy having a substantive task to work on, recalling and retelling meaningful times in their lives, but their stories were a gift to all the book’s readers, myself among them. I remember being moved by the personal tales of love and loss, war and sacrifice, faith and friendship.

I was put in mind of this book because last week I told family members I’d begun outlining a memoir/family history I plan to write. I suspect I’ve been spurred to write it by the deaths, over the last six months, of two beloved aunts, the last on both my father’s and mother’s sides of the family, and my own mother’s continued loss of memory at age 93. I realized I had already waited too long to capture some of the best family stories and memories, and wanted to write things down while some of them were still “catchable” through conversations with my sister and my cousins. I’ve also gathered a good amount of information on my Italian immigrant forebears through genealogical research.

While I am excited and enthusiastic about undertaking this project, I was surprised to discover both my husband and my sister were not. My husband, Michael, suggested my life had been too devoid of action and adventure to make the book much of a read. My sister, Diane, told me that we were just ordinary people who had led ordinary lives no one would be interested in.

The comments of my husband and sister put me in mind of American poet Emily Dickinson. I loved her poetry even before I studied her in a college course on 19th century New England writers. As a college senior, I wrote a lengthy paper on her called, “Infinity in a Little Room.” The paper successfully argued that even though she had been a recluse, had never married, had no children, and rarely left her home or her small town of Amherst, Massachusetts, she had written beautiful, creative and insightful poetry that spoke to the human condition.

Anne Morrow Lindberg used one of her poems as the title of her memoir, Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead, written after her child was kidnapped and murdered. The lines read,

This is the hour of lead,

Remembered if outlived

As freezing persons recollect the snow

First chill, then stupor, then the letting go…

My point, of course, is that most of us lead ordinary lives. But ordinary lives are not devoid of passion, joy, longing, love, loss, doubt, fear and a little drama. My grandparents immigrated from Italy at the turn of the 19th century; one of my relatives, opera star Rosa Ponselle, sang with Caruso at the Met in 1918; I battled the skin disease eczema most of my life; my ex-husband used to stalk me and threatened to kill me; I could bear no children, so adopted; I’ve moved far away from home to take a job…and then lost it.

In the process, I’ve experienced many of “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…that flesh is heir to.” And I am hopeful that the point of view I bring to those experiences in my little memoir will resonate with others.

We all have stories to tell, don’t we?