Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize

When it comes to speeches, there are two main views the audience can adopt: for or against what is being said. That is why it is no surprise that some republicans say, that President Obama "gave the most Bush-like speech of his presidency," whereas U.S. News writes, "The president's landmark speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize was a classic Obama address."

I say it's both.



President Obama's style and personality in this speech embrace his usual tone and character. His words seem practiced but not overly rehearsed. He knows what he wants to say, so he is confident in his words. He makes eye contact with the audience and alludes "to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. . .freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear, and freedom from want--come from FDR's Four Freedoms, first enunciated in the conclusion to his 1941 State of the Union address," says U.S. News. This citing of past addresses strengthens his credibility as the revered speech writer he is. For these reasons, I agree with U.S. News; it was a classic Obama address.

However, at times when President Obama addresses issues of war and national defense in this speech, he doesn't seem to have a clear-cut plan to solve the fighting issues--hence, Bush Like. President Obama talks of difficult challenges our nation faces, but he doesn't have the ready-made solutions that he may have had during his candidacy.

Despite the renowned reputation that President Obama has as a speechwriter, his speeches need to be more clearly his style than this Nobel Peace Prize acceptance. If others can compare him to a person whose style of speech giving is so unlike his, whether they mean it positively or negatively, something needs to change.

The Commencement Speech

Graduation time approaches many seniors. Prominent face a curious task in addressing these students: they must present fresh, original, and meaningful words in their speeches to the graduates.

Mary Beth Marklein of USA Today says, "Of the 700 or so commencement speeches. . .only about one in 20 "is really inspiring..." So how do leaders, like Scott, prepare to deliver a winning speech?

Marklein gives eight tips for an effective speech. She says:

1. Inspire us … but lose the clichés.

2. Talk about yourself … but make it meaningful to us.

3. Make us laugh … but leave stand-up routines to the pros.

4. Practice … but don't sound practiced.

5. Make us think … but don't make us seethe.

6. Do your homework … because details matter.

7. Hope for a sunny day … but even then, have pity.

8. Finally, keep it short. Period. 

These tips sound simple, but they are often forgotten. Clichés slip into everyday life, making messages less meaningful. People who try too hard to be funny are not taken seriously; humor should not be forced and neither should a good speech. It should feel natural. Speeches can inspire thinking through the detail that is presented. Be clear, but don't spoon feed your audience. In the end, none of these keys will matter if the lesson is so long that the listeners lose interest. Brevity is key. 

Watch Steve Jobs' 2005 address to the graduates at Stanford University. This speech was first on USA Today's top 10 commencement speeches list.

Jobs' message is meaningful and he follows many of the eight tips from above. Early on he says that he will cover stories from his life: "That's it; just three stories." He understands the principal of brevity, which is different than short.

He tells a group of college graduates that dropping out of college was the best thing that ever happened to him. The irony behind this grabs interest. It opens the door for him to inspire his audience.

Jobs impressive message, which is the basis for its making the top ten speeches list, outshines his rather poor delivery of that message. He  rarely looks at his audience, and he reads most of his speech. For a truly winning speech, he needs a better balance of delivery and message.

Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

As a speech that only occurs every four years, the Inaugural address must be memorable. As seen above from the Jan. 20, 2009 Inauguration of Presedin't Barack Obama, a speech of this magnitude has the potential to move millions of people.

One thing that is particularly winning about this presidential address is President Obama's awareness of audience. As the first African-American president in this nation's history, he has the choice to be as proud or as humble as he chooses.  He describes himself as, "humbled," "grateful," and "mindful." These subtly, powerful words stand out, assuring the public of it's choice to select Mr. Obama as it's president.  

President Obama discusses human equality--a topic of import since the founding of this country. He says, "All are equal. All are Free. All deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. It's as if he's explaining, to those who were against his candidacy, his necessary right to be president, to pursue whatever it is make him most happy. He says this honestly but not apologetically, which is important to all speeches.

In this speech, President Obama confronts current issues. He discusses healthcare, a poor economy that is weakened due to "greed and irresponsibility on the part of some." This forward manner in his speech suggests a forward approch to solving problems.

There is more meaning behind his words than what is said aloud. All speechwriters should remember this. You're saying more than you realize.

"On this day," Obama continues, "We gather because we have chosen hope over fear." He is America's choice for hope.

Does Speech Writing Pay?

I quiz students, "What about speech writing would interest you?"

The same questions comes up time after time, "Can you live off speech writing alone?" or "Is there any money in speech writing?" They have with multiple versions of the same question: "What about the money?"

Well, how much do you want to make? I checked a speech writers' average salary on PayScale.com, and it suggested that speech writers make anywhere from $37,000 up to $139,000, depending on how good they are, how many years they have worked, who their past clients are, and how their overall reputation looks.

Just as with any career, whether or not you can make it as a professional speech writer depends on how good you are. Is your work high in demand? Is there someone else who does a better job for cheaper? Are you good enough that you can expect to be paid well. How long have you been in the business?

All of these questions factor together to form a question all speech writers should ask themselves, "How dispensable am I?"  If every answer to this question is negative, chances are, you either won't make it as a speech writer, or you had better do something to make yourself a higher necessity. Become indispensable.

But how is this done?

William McGurn, one of President Bush's speechwriters, provides a model for fellow speechwriters to consider. At the time that McGurn replaced Michael Gerson as the President's head speechwriter, he left the Wall Street Journal as chief editorial writer. He had a broad range of skills; he was marketable.

"But 'we don't always set the agenda,' " says McGurn in an interview back in 2006. "'We're not in a vacuum....We have to respond to whatever's in the news, regardless of what we'd rather be talking about.'"

Flexibility, McGurn seems to be saying, is a necessary trait a speechwriter must master. He also talks about the long hours that speech writers pull: 6:45 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. is normal.

Upcoming speechwriters must be diversified, flexible, and devoted in order to make it as a speechwriter.

Writer's Block

Sometimes it's hard to think of what to write about. When this happens, I check twitter.

beesham tweets, "RT: @FusionPR: How to Promote Your Blog and Keep it Fresh with Content http://blog.fusionpr.com/?p=527."

I follow her link and then follow that link till I land on Paul's blog post, Overcoming Blogger’s Block.

As I read this, I wonder, "Does everybody get writer's block? If I can't think up material for a blog, is it possible that speech writers struggle writing speeches from time to time? If so, how do we overcome this?"

I have a few suggestions. Some even relate back to Paul's blog.

1. Don't just choose a topic, choose one about which you are passionate. If you don't care about what you're saying, why should anybody else? You may be asking, "What happens if I really don't care about what I'm saying, but I have to prepare this speech for my job, my client, my class, or my sister's wedding?" The truth is, there is really no way out of these types speeches, and they have to matter. That is, they have to matter to someone. If you don't care about your topic ask yourself, "Why might this topic matter to my audience?" Try pretending you are passionate about the topic. Study it. Talk to people who have a passion for what you are writing. Maybe you will at least gain appreciation for your subject matter. Above all, develop enough passion that you can at least deliver a winning speech.

2. Discuss possible speech ideas. In 18th century Britain, some of history's most famous authors, Jonathan Swift, Alaxander Pope, and John Gay, were members of the Scriblerus Club. This club was made up of a group of authors who gathered to intellectualize. It was through this club that Johnathan Swift came up with his idea for his satire, Gullivere's Travels. Here, also, was John Gay encouraged to write his Beggar's Opera. Without a place to formulate these thoughts aloud and without people to accept or reject these ideas as good or bad, some of our greatest minds may never have produced such great work.

3. Relax. Don't search so hard for that new idea. Let it search for you. Some of my best ideas have come to me in my sleep.

Overcoming writers block is a challenge for many. Bloggers, authors, and speech writers alike struggle to remain original, but it can and must be done.

Start Strong

First and last words resonate in the ear. They belong to the author of whatever speech, article, or blog post written. These sections give authority to the author.

The Speech-Writers.com Blog suggests otherwise. This blogger believes that every good speech begins with a quotation. They even provide two ready-made quotations that could be applied to a variety of speeches: "Winston Churchill said, ‘Never, no matter what the odds, never ever give in.’” and “‘If the horse is dead, it’s time to get off.’”

I disagree in every way with this post. Great speeches aren’t and never have been formed by repeating another person's thoughts.

How would Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech have turned out if he would have said, “My grandpa had a dream.”

In all fairness to the a fore mentioned blogger, it is important to hook your listeners when preparing a speech. A profound quotation works better than a poorly developed original thought.

Overall, creativity and boldness hook readers. Very rarely will the over-utilized quote beginning suffice.

Bland to Bold

In my 332 British Literature class, we may watch three PowerPoint presentations in a class hour. On days like this, it's difficult for my teacher to keep our interest.

Lack of attention from students has become a horrible routine in too many classrooms. Why? The Washington Speechwriters Roundtable blog says, “One explanation—as Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post put it—is PowerPoint’s ‘seductive availability.’ It’s just too easy.”

PowerPoint is getting overused to the point that people are numb to it and its usefulness as a speech-giving aid.

This blog also quotes a “veteran of the presentation wars: ‘We groan when we have to attend a meeting with a slide deck as the star.’”

Anthony Storr said, “Originality implies being bold enough to go beyond accepted norms.” In our speech writing, we must be innovative, in our presentation of that speech, bold.