I’ve been a speechwriter for almost two decades—from former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Fortune 100 C-Suite—and one thing I’ve learned is that executive speeches are communal events. So think hard about the language that brings a community together.
Sometimes it's technical language and inside jokes; more often, it's humanizing language that uses metaphor, humor, anecdotes, and phrasing that's simple enough to be understood and remembered by all.
The vast majority of audiences, even technical ones, tune out the jargon. Nobody wants to hear from a robot. But more often than not, speakers are experts on something, and they really want to nerd out.
Here's some steps on how to find that balance and simplify complex messaging to move an audience.
Speak to Your Audience, Not Your Ego
A speech should be sophisticated and true enough that an expert would shake their head in agreement. But simple enough that a broader audience can understand and learn something.
As a speechwriter, I rely on experts to tell me what to say. Not how to say it.
Many execs like to talk in technical terms as a way to prove their leadership, that they really are experts. Which means they're letting ego direct the speech, instead of addressing the audience's needs.
My response? “That’s awesome, sounds like you’ve been working hard on this. Can you give me a concrete example? What does it sound like, look like, how does a consumer use it?”
More often than not, you’ll get some great language to work from.
Be Memorable
What’s the point of speaking to a group of people if they don’t remember it, act on it, or tell their friends? We call that “message pull-through,” and it’s 90% of the speechwriting game. Did the listener take away a key message? Will it be quoted in media coverage and shared on social media? Will the audience remember it tomorrow?
To be memorable, you don’t have to say a lot. Shorter is always better. TED Talks are capped at 18 minutes.
Everyone multitasks, and attention spans are withering, so brevity is the soul of a memorable speech. With limited time, it’s critical to use vibrant, specific language that moves people, gets them to nod in agreement, or even frustrates them!
Every. Word. Matters.
Listen to Monroe
When your head is swimming with words or you’re feeling lost in the jargon, go back to Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. It’s a time-tested, focus-group-tested, perfected way to move an audience. Here’s a quick primer:
- Hook: People decide within 30 seconds whether they’re going to listen to a speech. So you have to hook the audience. It can be a joke, a real-life story, anything. But only one hook, and spend a lot of time making it good.
- Stakes: The audience needs a clearly-defined, dramatized problem with the status quo. Don’t worry if they don’t know they have a problem—most people loved the Blackberry until Steve Jobs got on stage and said it sucked.
- Solution: Contrast the problem with your lofty solution. Move back and forth from what is, to what could be.
- CTA: A “Call to Action” is how you empower the audience to go out and fix their now well-defined problem. In business, it’s usually to buy the thing being sold. Tell people exactly what they need to do to solve what has now become a pain point.
- Paint: An old boss of mine used to say, “You have to paint a picture with words.” A cliche, sure, but a good cliche. A simple, specific CTA is more impactful than dramatic writing, though harder to achieve.
Most of all, remember that speakers and listeners are human. Write as a human talking to humans. The audience will thank you. Actually they won’t, because speechwriters are anonymous, but hopefully your exec will.
Case Button is VP, Executive Communications at Codeword, a communication design agency.