Dear speech-fans and -friends,
Just back from the World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association in Washington DC.
Even posting the dozens of pages of notes
and documents I bring back could not match what you get by participating:
next to high-level expertise and the most up-to-date insight on speeches, it’s
meeting and networking with professionals from all over the world; it’s
experiencing the power of speeches from talented colleagues; it’s the
motivation to become better professionals.
The conference this year ranged from how the political brain works to what wit adds to speeches and speakers, to reflections on the profession of speechwriter – from the making of the State of the Union to what singing and speechwriting have in common. Let us know what you want to explore and we’ll find a way to share this.
You will find the latest selection of quotes and speeches on logospathosethos.eu.
Isabelle
Variations
on the power of antithesis
I am convinced that the worst day of
European integration is better than the best day of nationalistic Europe.
Read more
This is THE book to start with as a new political speechwriter but also to go back to as an experienced speechwriter.
For this second edition, Robert Lehrman and Eric Schnure have built on their experience as chief speechwriter and speechwriter to former Vice-President Gore and as teachers mainly in the United States but also in Europe, Asia, and [...]
Read more
« Europe is an act of political will. A deliberate decision. A conscious choice. And that we must continue to make this choice, every single day. Because this union, our values, our way of life, they are not self-executing. Self-evident but not self-executing. We chose to reject the battlefield and to settle our differences around the conference ta... »Frans Timmermans
Dear speech-fans and -friends,
Logos, pathos, ethos is back with its
summer harvest.
With major elections coming up, several
speeches ask what kind of rhetoric we need.
Also in this newsletter, some epideictic speeches - as examples of how commemorating an anniversary can serve as a springboard - and a selection on the beauties of multilingualism. Find more on logospathosethos.eu.
To help you ‘ignite change through speeches, stories, ceremonies and symbols’, the Bibliography section reviews Nancy Duarte’s 2016 book : ‘Illuminate’, together with other useful titles. More under : logospathosethos.eu/bibliography
In just four weeks, speechwriters from all over the world will meet at the Professional Speechwriters Association World Conference. Let us know if you go so that we can meet there – you can still register.
Isabelle
What kind of rhetoric do we need?
The current lack of public and political engagement in fact-based
decision-making even has people asking, have we have entered a
"post-factual" era of democracy? One in which the public identifies
with populist rhetoric and decisions are made based on fears and assumptions,
because people feel science and politics have left them behind.
Read the full speech here :
Carlos Moedas, Europe's voyage towards an
open global research area, EuroScience Open Forum, 25 July 2016
Dear speech-fans and -friends,
Different speakers, different audiences,
different events, yet the same quote :
“A politician is
a man who thinks of the next election,
while a statesman thinks of the next generation”.
Together with its relevance for us today, this
makes it our quote of the month.
If you want to find out who used it, read this month selection of quotes.
European speeches in June have dealt with – obvioulsy - the referendum in United Kingdom, but also history, Asterix and football.
You might also want to meet and learn from Sarah Hurwitz, Michelle Obama’s speechwriter – special
thanks to Vital
speeches for spotting this Washington Post article.
Logos, pathos, ethos will be back after the
summer.
Have a fruitful break.
Isabelle
Read more
Dear Speech-fans and -friends,
Why does the art of
speeches matter so much?
Speechwriter Simon Lancaster explains it quite well in his Ted talk: (watch:) Speak like a leader. It is becoming viral within the speechwriting community and for good reason.
This month harvest of
speeches illustrates his point, by revealing once again the great potential of remembrance
speeches, in Hiroshima, Verdun, or on Europe Day.
If you understand French, (écoutez:) La parole comme une arme: l'éloquence en politique. Cette émission radiophonique d’une heure est consacrée à l’éloquence de la politique française mais ses conclusions valent bien au-delà de l’hexagone.
Enjoy this selection,
Isabelle
The point I’m making here
is very serious : The reason we all used to learn rhetoric at school was
because it was seen as a basic entry point to society. How could society be
fair unless everyone had equal ability to articulate and express
themselves ? Without it, your legal systems, your political systems, your
financial sytems are not fair. It should be of intense concern to all of us that
education in this has been narrowed to a very small and powerful elite (…)
Let’s revive rhetoric,
let’s really reinvigorate debates around the world and let’s really give every
child on the planet to become a leader.
What should we call this grand initiative ? Well here’s an idea.
How about : democracy ?
(Full speech:) Simon Lancaster, Speak like a leader, April 2016
Commemorating Europe Day
What has happened to you,
the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, democracy and freedom?
What has happened to you,
Europe, the home of poets, philosophers, artists, musicians, and men and women
of letters?
What has happened to you,
Europe, the mother of peoples and nations, the mother of great men and women
who upheld, and even sacrificed their lives for, the dignity of their brothers
and sisters?
(Full speech:) Pope Francis, Conferral of
the Charlemagne Prize, 6 May 2016 (also available in
Arabic, German, French, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese)
Read more
As we celebrate Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death
Look at Shakespeare: what are the great moments of his work? The sword fights?
No, the speeches,
when someone steps downstage and
says, let me tell you what it is, let me tell you what it could be, lend me
your ears.
The speeches, and the balcony scene. Those are the parts we remember.
Done right, a good speech can change the world. (…)
Here’s a secret a speechwriter can
never forget: people don’t care that much about strategy, or sales goals or
market share. They may say they do, but that’s not it.
They want to be inspired. They
want to be part of something meaningful and big. And our job is to show them
what that feels like.
Every speech is a hero’s journey.
But the hero isn’t the speaker up on the stage.
No, no, no.
In our theater, the hero is the
man or woman out there in the audience looking for something that will (…)
finally let them become the person they long be.
Dain Dunston, The Downside
of Up: The Outrageous Fortune of Being a Speechwriter, 2016 Cicero
Speechwriting Grand Award, delivered at the 2015
World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association
Want more speeches ? Read this monthly selection and the best of the 2016 Cicero Speechwriting Awards.
Want more inspiration ? Join the 2016 World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association. PSA offers a special 15% discount to Logos, Pathos, Ethos readers with the code LPE15.
Enjoy this selection,
Isabelle
Perhaps
you need an outsider, somebody who is not European, to remind you of the
magnitude of what you have achieved.
President Obama, Address
to the People of Europe, Hannover, Germany, 25 April 2016
In three words: Brilliant - Eye-opener - a Must. In much more than three words: After reading this book I ca[...]
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