Rob’s blog
Help wanted.
As Rick Mercer points out, one of the top speechwriting gigs in the country is up for grabs: The writing fraternity in Canada is abuzz with talk that the Prime Minister’s speechwriter, Scott Feschuck, has decided to vacate his post. This means that for the first...
Apparel by Alex
Just in time for the late summer season, the latest must-have blogging accoutrements at Caf?©press.com: the BlogHer Cafe, with all proceeds going to BlogHerCon. Each T-shirt, mug, cap, bib and onesie bears a slogan dreamed up by the ever-astonishing Alex, including:...
Vancouver Courier on Rob on speechwriting
The Vancouver Courier has a big front-page article by Brandon Yip on speechwriting, interviewing folks like Tim Porteous (who wrote for Pierre Trudeau during those heady early years at the end of the 1960s), Libby Davies, Bill Vander Zalm, Hedy Fry, and recovering...
The end of the conference as we know it?
How many conferences have you been to where a head table of presenters opened with dry, over-cautious remarks, and things only got interesting during the audience Q and A? Alex, blogging from AdvocacyDev II, is delighted at the tack the organizers -- a duo called...
The Hotel Tea Drinker’s Manifesto
Friends! Tannin-stained comrades! The time has come to rise up and overthrow the shackles of half-assed hotel tea! We have gone from conference to conference, month after month, year after year. We have choked down stale mini-croissants, poked at soggy and lifeless...
SpeechList Issue 2:
5 kinds of jokes that don’t work… and 5 kinds that do
Here's Issue #2 of SpeechList, the speechwriting newsletter. You can get a copy fresh and a few days early in your inbox by clicking here to subscribe. SPEECHLIST: WRITING TO BE HEARD Issue 2 - July 5, 2005 by Rob Cottingham https://www.robcottingham.ca/ mail: rob at...
Livingstone on the terrorist attacks
I don't often reproduce speeches in their entirety, but Ken Livingstone's statement today is extraordinary, stirring and well worth reading. This was a cowardly attack, which has resulted in injury and loss of life. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been injured,...
Health Canada’s social marketing resource
Well, now, this is handy: a little social marketing mini-web-site courtesy of the folks at Health Canada. There's a not-too-quick and not-too-dirty guide to what social marketing is and how to do it -- including an extensive tutorial on writing a marketing plan....
Technorati haiku
For all you Technoranki junkies out there. Ahem: I click without hope Technorati is unchanged. Frustrated: I sigh. Update: Whoops. Thanks to Declan for the polysyllabic assist.
Worth reading: Mark on Media
Lately, I've been following Notes from a Teacher: Mark on Media. Written by a former journalist turned Kwantlen journalism instructor, it started as a way to share information with his students. But now its mandate has broadened: The more I read, the more I see that...
Free Nelson Mandela’s speaking notes
I've been scouring the web for the text of Nelson Mandela's speech to Live 8 on Friday. The closest I've come is finding these excerpts from the BBC. Update: Jay Pausner has found the whole thing. Updateder: ...Ach -- it's a speech from February (with a few similar...
Coda: the same-sex marriage fight goes on… in France
As the battle over C-38 winds down in Canada, the fight for equal marriage is just starting to gather steam in France. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist member of the French National Assembly (and avid blogger), reports on the Paris gay pride march: Les...
Why, yes — I’d LOVE to speak at your event
Public speaking and speechwriting: the essential guides
Looking for advice on public speaking, speechwriting and leadership communications? Here are some of my most comprehensive posts, on topics that people ask me about most often.
