 |
|
[ ] What's
New?
[ ] CAREER GUIDES
[ ] Articles
[ ] Blog
[ ] Podcasts
[ ] Writing Contests
[ ] Writing Events
[ ] Freelance Jobs
[ ] Career Help
[ ] Resources
[ ] Freebies
[ ]
ABOUT
o
About
Us
o
Contact
Us
o
Help
o
Site
Map
o
Home
FREE EBOOK
(
Click
Here )
NEW EBOOK
(
Click
Here )
FREE EBOOK
(
Click
Here )
|
|
Power Writer - Powerful word processing with fully integrated oOutlining & story development tools
|
|
Find thousands
of freelance writing and editing jobs...fresh jobs daily. Kickstart your
writing career for just $2.95. Daily Freelance
Jobs
|
|
|
<< [ BACK TO
FREE ARTICLES
]
|
WHAT IS FREELANCE SPEECH WRITING?
by Brian Konradt
Freelance speech
writing is the champagne of freelance writing; it offers a high degree of
creativity, a high-profile clientele, and the chance to have your work heard
among elite people. Of course, there are downsides as well: your style is
restricted to that of the speaker, and the pool of jobs is substantially
smaller than many other forms of freelance writing. But on the whole, the
advantages make it very attractive to pursue gigs as a freelance speech writer.
Speech writing is one of the oldest forms of communication. Much of
what we consider good rhetorical practice today goes back to the Romans and
Cicero. Until the previous century, long rhetorically-polished speeches were a
central (and enjoyable) part of serious literature, from the hieratic diatribes
of Shakespeare's Lear to the long burlesque flights of Dickens's heroes and
grotesques. Today, speech writing is mostly confined to large formal parties,
serious events, and political careers, but something of the dignity of the
art's long history still adheres to people's ideas about roaring good speeches.
Speech writing is the art of making people appear both persuasive and
dignified, of turning ordinary people into sources of entertainment and wisdom.
As expected, writing speeches effectively can be difficult to do well.
The key to effective speech writing--as well as the key to effective
writing in general--is to know one's audience. In speech writing, the audience
is a literal one: an employee pool, a group of wedding guests, or a rural
electorate. The speechwriter should, before setting even one word to paper,
find out who the speech is intended for and take this into account when
structuring the work.
Once you know your audience, know your speaker.
As Bernard Shaw once said, it's impossible to make a silk purse from a sow's
ear -- or at least, people don't want to believe it's possible. If the CEO
you're writing for is known as a good ol' boy, down-to-earth businessman, it
won't ring true if your speech contains a number of high literary allusions and
elaborate rhetorical constructions. If you're writing for a museum curator,
opening with an off-color joke and referring to "the folks back home" is not
necessarily the best way to go.
You not only have to know about your
client's perceived character, but about his or her actual speech rhythms.
Interview your client if possible, or if not possible, try to get access to
videos, tapes, or other recordings. This should give you some idea of voice,
and some understanding of how best to express your ideas in the "client's
words." If a speech doesn't sound natural coming from the client's mouth, the
speech won't work and you won't develop a good reputation that leads to more
assignments. So put in the time, get a good idea of the client's voice, and use
it exclusively in your work.
Framing your speech around the subject
matter can be tricky, but fortunately all the prep work you've been doing will
make it a much simpler proposition. If you know your audience, your client's
speech style, and your client's public perception, you'll have a decent compass
for navigating your speech through possible dead areas, out of dark, depressing
moments, far to the lee of excessive frivolity, and generally on an even course
from the first attention-getting moment to the conclusive point. It's difficult
to know exactly how a speech will play before it's actually delivered, but you
can get a rough idea by reading your drafts to a friendly audience (spouse,
friends, children), or by tape-recording yourself delivering the speech into a
mirror. A good speech doesn't have dead moments, doesn't bore, and reaches a
series of short, conclusive points to keep the audience's attention from
wandering over time. If you do plenty of revision work and get a real idea of
how your speech sounds when read aloud, you can fine-tune appropriately in
order to ensure a successful speech, and a satisfied customer.
Of
course, getting customers in the first place can be tricky: the speechwriting
market is usually fairly small and fairly exclusive, since only the very
wealthy can usually afford to have professional speechwriters work for them.
The Catch-22 here is that the very wealthy typically only want established,
proven speechwriters, a difficult preference for novice speechwriters to deal
with. You can establish yourself and build a reputation, however, by
advertising heavily in local papers, club newsletters, and anywhere likely to
need a speech writer at some point in time: wedding planners, local
organizations, startup corporations in your area. This may not be the
best-paying work, but it's essential to building a proven reputation as a good
speechwriter. Once you have some gigs under your belt, start upping your level
of advertising to include corporate newsletters and trade journals, and make
sure to network at every event where you've written a speech. Word gets around,
and eventually, if you promote yourself well, it'll get to the right people.
In any case, it'll be some time before your speech writing is
well-known enough to command high prices, and to allow you to make it the
exclusive focus of your freelance writing career. Keep up some other freelance
jobs, write speeches whenever you get the opportunity, and keep up the
self-promotion among the right circles. If you're talented and you're
fortunate, you can make the switch to the champagne of freelance writing, and
achieve that most satisfying of jobs: you can become a successful freelance
speech writer.
© B. Scott
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Scott has been
a professional freelance writer for more than a decade. He is an active forum moderator at Writing Answers, a vibrant community of writers helping writers.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
1)
Writing Great Speeches: Professional Techniques You Can Use
(Part of the Essence of Public Speaking Series) by Alan M. Perlman
2)
You Can Write Speeches and Debates (You Can Write) by
Jennifer Rozines Roy
3)
Speech Ghostwriting: Crafting Effective Speeches for Other
People by Douglas Perret Starr
[
VIEW ALL BOOKS
] |
|
|
|
