September 2011 | Volume 07

The Speechwriter
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild

MASTERCLASS by Chip and Dan Heath

Welcome
Welcome to the seventh
edition of The Speechwriter
newsletter. The purpose of
this publication is to circulate
examples of excellent speeches to
members of the UK Speechwriters’
Guild. We do this by picking out
openings, closings, one-liners
and quotations and other topical
extracts from newspapers and the
internet to identify techniques,
stimulate your imagination and
provide models which you can
emulate.

This newsletter appears

quarterly and is available to I n their book Made to Stick,
Why Some Ideas Survive and
Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath ask
4) CREDIBILITY

We need to make people believe

anyone who is a Standard
Member of the UK Speechwriters’
Guild.
why some ideas take off and some our ideas. Make reference to external
authorities.
don’t. They worked out the broad
characteristics of messages that
become viral. 5) EMOTIONS

1) SIMPLICITY How do we get people to care

Contribute
We need your speeches. Most
of the examples in this edition are
taken from the Americans.
We want to raise standards in
the UK. Please send examples of
speeches to:
8 info@ukspeechwritersguild.co.uk
Strip an idea down to its core. As
Dr Johnson said, “He is a benefactor
of mankind who contracts the great
rules of life into short sentences.”
2) UNEXPECTEDNESS
Open gaps in the knowledge of
your audience. Get their interest and
surprise them.
3) CONCRETENESS
A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush. Marvel at how vivid and
memorable this image is and try to
replicate.
about our idea? The content has to
engage strong feelings.
6) STORIES
Stories are like mental flight
simulators they allow us to rehearse
problems and become better at
dealing with them. They need to
include vivid images and situations
people can relate to.
The headings spell ‘SUCCES’.
Apply this checklist to your speech.
If you cover all these bases you’re
well on the way to creating a ‘sticky’
message that will be remembered by
your audience.

W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K • INFO@UKSPEECHWRITERSGUILD.CO.UK
The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild
BOOK REVIEWS
Resonate: Present Visual
Stories That Transform
Audiences
By Nancy Duarte
Published by John Wiley & Sons
(248 pages)
ISBN 0470632011, £19.99
T his is a lavish coffee table-style
book, but where it differs from
other coffee-table books is that it’s
packed with useful and adaptable
techniques for improving your
presentations.
Nancy Duarte’s special theory is a
chart called a ‘sparkline’ which shows
how a great speech is structured
and the path it needs to take. She
created this template and then saw
that it worked for many memorable
speeches and other works of art. It’s
worth taking a look at.
Another excellent innovation
in this book is the references to the
Duarte.com website. You can watch
the speeches she talks about online.
The text drives you to the website
and the website sends you back to
the book.
Another virtue of this text is
that it goes beyond the hackneyed
examples of good communication to
include new material from Richard
Feynman, Martha Graham, Leonard
W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K
Bernstein, TED and a pastor from the
Presbyterian church.
She suggests that all
presentations should create
repeatable soundbites and a STAR
moment – Something They’re Always
Remember. The text never drags and
the points are made in succinct and
fun ways.
I liked the bit about how
Enron executives were brilliant at
PowerPoint presentations and the
rather endearing chapter heading,
“Don’t Use Presentations for Evil”.
The fact that the business
Duarte.com exists is great news for
speechwriters. As far as I can see, the
agency based in California specialises
in advising businesses on how to
construct their presentations using
different technologies.
Room 121: A Masterclass
in Writing and
Communication in
Business
By John Simmons and Jamie Jauncey,
Published by Marshall Cavendish
International (224 pages)
ISBN 9814328596, £12.99
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2
T hey say that the author photo
can help to sell books. The
photo in the back of this book is of
two bespectacled, white-haired old
men. The narrative is an exchange
of letters between the two through
four seasons on the subject of what
makes good business writing.
This sounds very
unprepossessing, but actually
the content is riveting. It’s like a
correspondence between two dons,
each of them telling stories at High
Table. They have years of experience
and they share their lessons lightly.
The title is a bit odd, perhaps a
more direct American-style “Be The
Best Business Writer” cover would
explain what the content is, but that
wouldn’t be in the spirit of this very
civilised book.
The authors are not unworldly.
They have worked with corporations
and household brands and their
examples of fine writing come from
eclectic sources like pop music and
poetry. They are making the case
against ‘multidisciplinary stakeholder
partnership consultations’ and
pleading for the expression of good
manners through gentle but effective
communication.
Like a Jane Fonda Workout
video, the letters are broken up with
exercises to improve your own verbal
muscle. There is lots of good stuff on
speechwriting and branding.
I see this book is part of a
movement to win more respect
for corporate writers. Our value is
often overlooked and the company
of Simmons and Jauncey instills
confidence, reminding us of the
important role we play in the success
of products and organisations.
Brian Jenner
http://www.thespeechwriter.co.uk
The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07 3

Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild

THE WHOLE ENCHILADA - WHAT WORKS IN SPEECHES by Dan Pink

will give your speech a shape. And can be doing at that moment isn’t
it will provide your audience some taking care of something at the office
guideposts about where you’ve been or being with their families – but
and where you’re going. sitting there listening to you. That’s
an extraordinary — and humbling —
2. Mix up the elements. Variety gift. Alas, not enough speakers think
can keep your audience engaged. of it this way. The goal is to for the
For instance, funny stories are great. audience to leave saying, “I’m sure
But a half-hour of nothing but zany glad I listened to that guy for an hour
D an Pink was the chief
speechwriter for Vice
President Al Gore from 1995-1997. He
tales can actually undermine your
point. Pelting people with factoids
rather than returned those phone
calls or answered those emails.”

for 40 minutes is usually a mistake.
wrote some tips for delivering world- 2. Forgetting the Lamott rule.
But removing them altogether is also
class presentations on the Tim Ferriss Anne Lamott wrote Bird by Bird, one
an error. Mix it up. Audiences are so
Blog http://www.fourhourworkweek. of my favorite writing guides. In the
accustomed to predictable speeches
com/blog/. Here is an extract. book, she describes how an editor
that surprise can be your ally. Indeed,
one of my favorite speech models of hers cut out a sizeable portion
What are the necessary of some chapter she had written.
doesn’t even have words. It’s Haydn’s
ingredients in a good speech? Outraged, she asked him why. He
Surprise Symphony (No. 94 in G
Major). It engages the listener by said: “Just because it happened to
I’ve said many times that the
offering variety and surprise within you doesn’t mean it’s interesting.”
three essential ingredients in any
an established structure. Great advice for speakers.
good speech are brevity, levity, and
repetition. But at a broader level, 3. Not doing their homework.
3. Once you’ve mapped out your
the most important aspect of any This may seem self-evident, but it’s
speech, remove 20 percent. In all
speech, as Garr Reynolds reminds us important to know whom you’re
my years of preparing and watching
in Presentation Zen, is being able to talking to. Yet too many speakers
political and business speeches, I’ve
answer two questions:

A. What’s your ignore this simple truth. They deliver
yet to hear anyone say, “Gee, I wish
point?
B. Why does it matter? the same speech to a group of nuns
that speech were longer.”
that they delivered three days ago
That’s the whole enchilada. If you
4. Here’s the key lesson: It’s not at a punk rock convention. You don’t
have a single point and can explain
about you. It’s about the audience. necessarily have to craft an entirely
to a particular audience why it
Think of it from their perspective. new speech from top to bottom
matters to them, you’re ahead of 90
Again, at the risk of being too critical every time you open your mouth. But
percent of the business and political
of all those who stride the stage or there are all kinds of ways to tailor
speechgivers out there today.
command the podium, too many and customize the message to the
speechmakers – either through people at hand. For example, when
How do you plan and structure
nervousness or ego – seem to I was working for Gore, we used
presentations?
forget that what really matters is the to love to include in his speeches
audience’s experience, not their own. what we called “How the hells?” For
There’s no single formula for
instance, say he was speaking in
making a point and showing why it
What are the most common Sheboygan, Wisconsin. We’d find
matters, but you typically won’t go
mistakes that presenters make and out the most popular coffee shop
wrong if you abide by four principles:
how do you fix them? in Sheboygan and its most popular
1. Give the speech a beginning, a pastry. Then somewhere in the
There are three that I see all the speech, we’d include a place for him
middle and an end.
time: to say matter-of-factly, “If you’re
You don’t have to take the talking about health care down at
1. Thinking a speech is a right Charley Café’s – and maybe eating
audience by the hand and walk them
rather than a privilege. When you one of those cherry-walnut scones
through each step. And you don’t
deliver a speech, you’ve got 10 or 100 – you might wonder whether our
have to proceed chronologically. But
or 10,000 people who have decided Medicare plan covers . . . “ People love
having that structure in your head
that the most important thing they that sort of touch. Homework pays.

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The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild
OPENINGS
D ear fellow speechwriters,
friends and colleagues. There
is a line from Shakespeare about the
darkest hour being just before dawn.
“Let me tell you about the darkest
hour in my career …”
Andrew B. Wilson, freelance
speechwriter, in remarks titled
Stay Up and Fight: Advice from a
Corporate Speechwriter.
Y ou can always tell how highly
you are rated as a speaker by
how long before the event you are
asked to speak.
International statesmen, of the
calibre of Tony Blair and Paddy
Ashdown are often approached 18
months in advance.
Former British Cabinet Ministers
might need SIX months notice.
You might be able to book a
reasonably well-known national TV
celebrity with four week’s warning.
On the other hand you can
probably get a local public figure or
clergyman if you have the courtesy
to let them know a couple of days
before your event.
So..it was with enormous
pleasure.. that I received your
Chairman’s phone call at 6.30 this
morning.’
Quoted in The Presentation
Coach by Graham Davies
I f you’re here this evening
to experience a wonderful
company dinner with glittering
entertainment and devastatingly
witty speeches, you’ve come to the
right place.....you’ve come on the
wrong night, but you’ve come to the
right place!
Mitch Murray
W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K
LESSONS FROM A MOVIE: PROVIDING VALUE
BEYOND WORDS
S peechwriters the
world over talked
about The King’s Speech
and its insights into the
relationship between a
high profile speaker and
the one person who was
able to help him overcome a stutter.
According to the film, speech
therapist Lionel Logue went to great
lengths to support King George VI.
Before important broadcasts, he
created a “cosy” setting, opened
the windows, and performed like a
maestro, conducting his royal client
through the script.
Your speaker probably doesn’t
need or expect you to take those
steps. However, you can provide
value that goes far beyond the words
you write.
Here are five things to do to help
your speaker succeed.
1. Get a good sense of the lay of
the land.
Whenever possible, speak
with the event organiser to get a
clear understanding of the speech
window. Find out how long the
speaker is supposed to talk as well
as the time for activities such as the
introduction and Q&A session. Ask
who else is going to speak, in what
order and for how long. Then make
sure your speaker is well briefed so
there are no surprises.
2. Knock down the barriers
between speaker and audience
Build a profile of the audience
and use the information to choose
language, imagery and examples
that will help your speaker connect
with his or her listeners. Also, ask
yourself: what do these people need
to hear to get behind the speaker’s
• INFO@UKSPEECHWRITERSGUILD.CO.UK
4
ideas? Then make sure the
answers to that question end
up in the speech.
3. Provide a script that’s
easy to read
Set up the speech so that each
sentence is its own paragraph. It’s too
easy for a speaker to get lost in a sea
of words when the text is set up in
dense clumps. To help your speaker
hold his or her head high, only use
the top half of each page.
4. Leave time for your speaker to
pause
Speakers and listeners both
benefit from pauses. The speaker can
use a pause to gauge the interest
level of the audience. Listeners enjoy
them too, as they provide a break
and a chance to reflect on what is
being said.
5. Understand that the last
reason to include humour in a
speech is to make the speaker funny
Most speakers aren’t skilled
enough at handling humour to
get the audience rolling in the
aisles. Nor should they try. That’s
what comedians work hard to do.
Audiences are more than happy
with the kind of humour that elicits
a smile or a few chuckles. Quips,
one-liners and personal anecdotes
warm up the atmosphere, allow the
speaker to express some personality
and give the audience a chance
respond through smiles, laughter or
even applause.
Wendy Cherwinski will be
running a seminar Adding Value
Beyond Words: The Many Roles
of the Speechwriter at the UK
Speechwriters’ Guild conference
on Friday 16 September at
Bournemouth University.
The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild
UK BUSINESS SPEAKER OF THE YEAR
The Search For The
UK Business Speaker
Of The Year Starts Now
T he UK Speechwriters’ Guild
exists to promote better
public speaking.
Working with brand agency, RT
Media, we’ve created a competition
that uses YouTube to draw attention
to those speakers who have
important things to say. Would-be
competitors submit their videos
which are made available for viewing
by the public.
This year is the pilot. We’ve
invited eight speakers to take
part in the final. The plan is for the
overall winner to be selected by
a live audience. When better to
host the final than when over 40
speechwriters are in Bournemouth
on the eve of the annual UKSG
conference?
Brian Jenner explained the
thinking behind the contest.
“One theorist of social change
identified three things that
motivated people: carrots, sticks and
sermons.
In politics they’re always talking
about taking away benefits from
those who don’t want to work, or
giving them free training in the
hope of finding a new career. How
about encouraging them to listen
to inspirational stories and find
potential within themselves?
W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K
Sponsored By
A motivational speech is like a
good sermon. It engages the heart. It
makes you see the world in a slightly
different way. We all lose hope and
get into ruts at times. A collective
emotional experience can inspire us
to do great things on the sports field,
deal with a difficult situation or take
action to start a new business.”
The speakers have been
instructed to deliver ‘an inspirational
business message for our times’.
Pavilion Dance in Bournemouth
has a state-of-the art theatre which
will host the contest. The speeches
will start at 7pm on Thursday 15
September 2011.
The competition will be run on an
X-Factor format with the judges and
the audience having a vote towards
who becomes the winner.
Max Atkinson, author of Lend
Me Your Ears will be chairman of the
judges.
“Most of the world’s top business
gurus are American, this is a great
opportunity to find the British
equivalent of Tom Peters or Stephen
Covey.” said Ross Thornley, owner of
RT Media.
You can buy your ticket at:
http://championspeaker.eventbrite.
com/
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5
OLYMPIC
INSPIRATION
Y ou came to see a race today.
See someone win. Happened
to be me. But I want you to do more
than just watch a race.
I want you to take part in it.
I want to compare faith to
running in a race. It’s hard. It requires
concentration of will, energy of soul.
You experience elation when the
winner breaks the tape - ‘specially if
you’ve got a bet on it.
But how long does that last? You
go home. Maybe your dinner’s burnt.
Maybe, maybe you haven’t got a job.
So who am I to say, “believe,” “have
faith,” in the face of life’s realities?
I would like to give you
something more permanent, but
I can only point the way. I have
no formula for winning the race.
Everyone runs in her own way, or his
own way.
And where does the power come
from to see the race to its end?
From within. Jesus said, “Behold, the
kingdom of God is within you. If, with
all your hearts ye truly seek me, ye
shall ever surely find me.”
If you commit yourself to the love
of Christ. And THAT is how you run
the straight race.
Speech from Chariots of Fire, Ian
Charleson as Eric Liddell
The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild
Leon Conrad
THE ART OF RHETORIC - A COURSE
O ne of the stated aims of the
UK Speechwriters’ Guild is to
‘repopularise rhetoric’. The trouble is
that this makes for a dry mantra. Few
people could give a simple definition
of what rhetoric is and the whole
concept reeks of Latin and obscure
grammatical rules.
Tom Hodgkinson is the founder
of The Idler magazine and the author
of several books on living well. He
has extended the franchise further
and created The Idler Academy on
Westbourne Park Road in London.
Browsing his website, I noticed
he offered a class in The Art of
Rhetoric. Even more surprising was
that the course was being taught
by a company called The Academy
of Oratory. How could a company
can that sounds 2500 years out of
date persuade corporates to engage
their services? That would indeed be
a formidable exercise in rhetorical
skills.
I dropped in on the class. The
trainers, Giles Abbott and Leon
Conrad, exude the confidence of top
actors. They both wear musketeer-
like beards and they both speak
beautifully.
W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K
Giles Abbot
As soon as introductions
were over we were taking part in
interactive exercises. As if we were in
drama school, we were given a task
to bring us into ‘the moment’. We had
to prowl round the room pointing at
objects and calling them the wrong
name.
Giles urged us to think of a simple
anecdote from our lives. A story
we had told that week. He then
illustrated three styles of opening
a story: direct, indirect and gear
change.
I think I grasped that direct
involved a formal beginning ‘once
upon a time’ – indirect involved a
rambling introduction and ‘gear
change’ – was like the opening of
Paradise Lost – a dive into the ‘middle
of things’. It didn’t really matter, the
point was made that there were
different ways to start a story.
The background of both trainers
has been voice coaching; breathing
exercises also featured in the lesson.
The blend of different dimensions of
speech-giving kept our attention and
gave the course a ‘holistic’ feel.
Leon explained there were five
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6
levels of gesture. From waving
your hands in the air like a mad
scientist to keeping them behind
your back like a Royal. This was a
curious exercise for me because I
occasionally do something similar for
wedding speeches when I’m stuck for
inspiration. There’s an insight here –
gesture can help to generate text.
Most of the exercises involved
working with a partner. We had
to find a beginning, a middle and
an end for our anecdote by oral
experimentation. Our partner would
fire imperatives at us to change the
tone of the story: Action! Description!
Feeling!
150 minutes passed rapidly.
Without weighing us down with
figures of speech, they shared
some of the joy of using effective
storytelling techniques. At the end of
the session every delegate stepped
up to the podium to deliver the
bare bones of their story. Nerves
had disappeared and everyone
remembered their lines. I went home
eager to polish up some of my other
anecdotes to give them a wider
audience.
Giles and Leon ( http://www.
academyoforatory.co.uk ) are
running another course on 20
September at the Idler Academy
020 7221 5908, £40
DEFINITION
“Hypnotizing chickens “
The process of developing
PowerPoint slides and other
media that will induce coma in the
audience.
The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07 7

Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild

QUESTIONS FOR DAVID MURRAY though neither of them has delivered

David Murray, keynote speaker at UKSG 2011, is editor of
Vital Speeches of the Day and Vital Speeches International.
Murray has covered speechwriting and executive
communication for nearly two decades.
What is Vital Speeches of the
Day?
Vital Speeches has for 76 years
now collected the best speeches
from the leading thinkers in the
world. The original idea, back in 1935,
was that newspapers and radio so
finely filtered what we heard, that it
would be a service to the nation—
Vital Speeches was then a very much
America-centric enterprise—to
provide a look at whole speeches,
not just sound bites chosen by
biased media organizations.
That musty old mission sounds
kind of modern, doesn’t it?
Have you featured any speeches
by British speakers lately?
Yes, Vital Speeches is now global
in its scope, and we also publish
a sister publication called Vital
Speeches International, which almost
exclusively runs speeches from
outside the US.
British political speeches are
often better—more substantive and
more rhetorically powerful—than
American ones. In Bournemouth,
I will be looking for examples of
corporate speeches from the UK, as
I don’t see enough of those even to
have an opinion about them.
How do speechwriters submit
speeches?
Easy: Send a Word doc to me at
vseditor@mcmurry.com.
I read every speech I get.
What are the Cicero Awards?
And how did they come about?
The Cicero Speechwriting
Awards recognize excellence in
speechwriting. They’ve been around
for five years, and they were a natural
outgrowth of the longtime function
of Vital Speeches as an arbiter of
excellence in rhetoric.
Did you study rhetoric at
university?
I studied English. Straight out
of university, I went to work for a
Chicago company that published a
weekly Speechwriter’s Newsletter.
They put on an annual Speechwriters’
Conference, too. Helping write the
newsletter and run the conference,
I got to read a lot of speeches and
to know a lot of speechwriters. I
liked the speechwriters better than
the speeches, which were mostly
corporate drivel and political pap. My
appreciation for the rarity of a good
speech prepared me well, I think, to
be editor of Vital Speeches of the Day.
Have you ever worked as a
speechwriter?
I’ve consulted on speeches
for others, and I’ve written many
speeches for myself. But never
written one for hire, no. I’d like to,
but then who would send it to Vital
Speeches? And who would consider it
for publication?
What are your favourite
examples of British rhetoric?
Well, we’re big Churchill fans
over here, and Tony Blair is widely
respected. I guess with this new
Thatcher movie out, we’ll be
considering her rhetoric, too. I
don’t mind Cameron’s speeches,
and we’ve published Clegg’s too,
anything immortal. I hope to be
turned onto some great British
speakers while I’m in Bournemouth.
What does the American Dream
mean to you? And how does it
shape American speechwriting?
As it relates to rhetoric, the
American Dream is simply an
assumption that things can get
better, and that they probably
will get better and that you, the
American, have the power to
make them better. Wherever
you’re speaking, you have to find
the “American dream” inside the
audience. Napoleon said that
a leader is a dealer in hope. A
rhetorician is, too.
Is the need for a specialist
speechwriter widely accepted in the
US or do most executives see it as
part of the PR skillset?
There used to be dedicated
speechwriters, but now it’s mostly
just a part of the PR skill set. That’s
fine for many speeches, but when a
truly artful speech is needed, I hope
the communication VP is LinkedIn to
some real writers who actually have
time to think and space to dream
outside the corporate box.
How did the Ragan
Communications’ Annual
Speechwriters’ Conference in
Washington come about? What was
your involvement with it?
That conference started in
Chicago in the late 1980s; I used
to help organize it in some of
those early years, and wound up
programming it for most of a decade,
in the 2000s. It was a great event, and
it still is.
But I have a little more fun at
Leadership Communication Days,
an event that Vital Speeches initiated
last year. It’s super small—we cap
attendance at 25—and all we do

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The Speechwriter September 2011 | Volume 07
Newsletter of The UK Speechwriters’ Guild
is tell one another the truth about
this work for two straight days. At
meetings, over meals, over drinks.
You leave with new ideas and new
friends.
(It’s in Washington, D.C. this year,
Oct. 27-28; we’d love to have a UK
speechwriter there.)
http://www.vsotd.com/Page.
php?p=11
What’s your favourite line of
poetry?
A WINNING SIGN
No ideas but in things. William
Carlos Williams.
What’s the best website created
by a US freelance speechwriter in
your opinion?
For my money, it’s The Eloquent
Woman, run by speechwriter and
communicator Denise Graveline.
Full of ideas and great examples of
speeches—refreshingly, all speeches
delivered by women.
Check it out and see if you
disagree.
http://eloquentwoman.blogspot.com
Do you write your own speeches
verbatim as preparation, or do you
assemble your ideas and then speak
impromptu?
Verbatim. For me there are no
ideas without words. Sometimes I
then decide to go off notes—that’s
what I’ll do at your conference—
and other times I actually deliver
them off the page. That’s hopelessly
old-fashioned, I know, but when
you really positively have to get
something across exactly as
intended—and you’re a writer—
how can you leave the verbiage to
chance?
Do you listen to audiobooks?
No. I work at home, and when I
travel it’s usually on a motorcycle,
W W W. U K S P E E C H W R I T E R S G U I L D . C O . U K
so there’s not much time to listen to
books. Books on tape drive me nuts,
because books inspire ideas, and I
find myself drifting a hundred miles
away from the story, needing to
rewind the damned thing.
Who is the next best speaker
among Presidential hopefuls after
Obama?
Lady Gaga.
J
on Steel in his book Truth,
Lies and Advertising tells an
anecdote that reveals the sort of
brain work a speechwriter does for a
client.
Living in the San Francisco Bay
area, he explains that one of the most
prevalent forms of communication
are signs held up by homeless people
to attract donations from passers-
by. The most common sign was ‘Will
Work for Food’ which Steel thinks is
very powerful.
It credits the passer-by with
intelligence, and then addresses
a popular prejudice about the
homeless not wanting to do any
work. Mentioning food also counters
the fear that the person is going
to spend the money on drugs or
gambling. It’s also direct and to the
point – just four words.
Steel then looks at other ways
you could express this message.
His comments are part of a chapter
that examines the objection that
creativity is a needless distraction
from selling, and the task of
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advertising is just to tell people what
to think. What would be a functional
way for a homeless man to express
his need?
I’m homeless. I need money.
That’s clear, but to give the
communication focus he could say:
I’m homeless, I need your money.
But the sign would lack some
urgency, so he could add.
I’m homeless, I need your money now.
That’s a bit raw, but it could
suffice, but it’s hardly imaginative or
special. It doesn’t deal with casual
prejudices.
Steel goes through other
strategies.
Non-smoker. On the wagon. Faint at
the sight of a needle.
That’s a bit vague. Then he goes
for the stylish line:
Just give it.
Finally he ends up with two
signs he saw on the streets of San
Francisco that show ingenuity and
charm. One read:
Why lie? I need a beer.
And then on foot, he saw a man
with the demeanor of a man without
a bed for the night, brandishing a
tatty cardboard sign:
Need fuel for Lear Jet.
Steel was so impressed, he
stopped, gave him $5 and wished
him a pleasant journey.
The Speechwriter is edited by Brian
Jenner.
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