Rob’s blog
Delivery: How to lift a speech from the page
“Put me up on stage in front of a microphone to speak off the cuff, and I do great,” one of my workshop participants said not long ago, as we talked about speech delivery. “But give me a written speech to read and I just go dead,” he added, slumping in his chair to…
Getting better feedback
“Could you read this?” a friend asked me, handing over the manuscript for his novel. “I’d love your feedback.” So I did. I read all 200 pages and made detailed notes about story, character and voice. How the dramatic structure needed…
Challenge, call, recipe, reward: How to write the conclusion of your speech
Conclusions are one of the hardest parts of a speech to write. Here’s an approach to bringing any speech to a graceful end with an inspiring call to action.
Don’t make your audience unsubscribe from your speech
I just sent this in response to “Why are you unsubscribing from us?” (on the third screen you had to click through to unsubscribe): The constant stream of “ALERT!” “URGENT” and other messages just got too much. If everything is urgent, then nothing is. I know the data…
Nine deadly (boring) sins: Will your speech put your audience to sleep?
There are conference keynotes, presentations and panels that leave you breathless and excited, inspired to go forth and do something momentous. And then… there are the other ones. The sad fact is a lot of conference content just isn’t all that good. I can think of…
Don’t be fooled by Resting Audience Face
You’re trucking along in your speech, performing with verve and passion, and look out to the crowd… …only to see face after face that looks completely unresponsive. Hell, you think. They hate this. I’m losing them. And, you know what? Maybe you are. But here’s the…
Don’t just read your speech. Perform it.
There’s a big conceptual leap that absolutely transforms a speaker’s connection with an audience, and magnifies their impact tremendously. It’s the leap from reading a speech… to actually, authentically performing it. Instead of a recitation, your delivery becomes a…
Wrapping up my first Facebook Live speechwriting clinic
Thanks to everyone who joined me this morning for my first official Facebook Live speechwriting clinic. (I say “official” because I’ve done a few impromptu runs at this in the past. Let’s define “official” as “I gave people…
Speaking at a rally? Here’s how to make it count.
If you work with a mission-driven organization, you may find yourself speaking at a political rally soon. (Maybe sooner than you think, the way things are going.) You may be there to offer a short greeting and encouragement, or to deliver a rousing featured address,…
The authoritarian story behind Donald Trump’s inaugural address
Last week, the good folks at Global’s BC1 news channel asked for my analysis of Donald Trump’s inaugural address. You’ll probably be less than surprised to learn I wasn’t a fan… and not just because it was pretty tedious.
Stuck for a beginning to your speech? Here are 13 quick ways to get moving.
Figuring out how your speech is going to start stymies a lot of writers. I’ve spent too many hours staring at the blank screen, starting a paragraph, backspacing, starting again, backspacing, doing the dishes, starting a paragraph, backspacing… It’s one of the…
Communicators, it’s time to end audience abuse.
Audience abuse comes in many forms. It happens in speeches. An unprepared speaker who just can’t communicate. A bait-and-switch session that doesn’t deliver what it promised. A speaker who spends their time pitching themselves. A speaker who leaves you…
