NEWSLETTER OF THE EUROPEAN SPEECHWRITER NETWORK · INCORPORATING THE UK SPEECHWRITERS’ GUILD

THE

SPEECHWRITER
2019 | VOLUME 21 | 10 BIRTHDAY EDITION
TH
europeanspeechwriters.org · ukspeechwritersguild.co.uk

Destination
Oxford
Sarah Hurwitz talks to us about her
time working for Michelle Obama
1 BOOK REVIEW by Alan Barker
You Were Born to Speak
By Richard Newman, Published by Richard Newman Books
J ust be yourself.
That’s what Richard Newman often
hears when people discuss effective
communication. It’s terrible advice, he
suggests, because what we call the self
includes ‘a lifetime of bad habits and
behaviours that we need to strip away
in order to connect with people more
successfully.’
This is his foundational principle.
Performance equals potential minus
interference. And his book is very much
about performance: what happens
between people. It’s no surprise that he
trained as an actor. When we remove
the interference, the performing self
that’s revealed is social.
The key to success, he suggests, is
congruency. The alignment between
words and behaviour is what others
read as authentic. But the protective
armour with which we cover ourselves makes congruency
impossible. ‘Your armour,’ writes Newman, ‘may have been
weighing you down and holding you back for years.’ So, he
looks at three areas where we can let the armour go. ‘Style’
is about physical behaviour: posture, movement and voice.
His ideas –based on research at UCL that I’d have liked to
know more about– emphasise a direct relationship between
physical and mental states: good posture, for example, which
signals confidence and power, is about how you interact with
gravity. Gestures aid mental coherence: they stimulate your
memory and make you speak better. And ‘if your body isn’t
set up correctly, your voice will be a reflection of that –tense,
tight and tired.’
The problem, of course, is that removing the armour makes
us feel vulnerable. ‘What feels good to you may not look
good to the people who are watching you. You need to
deliver your words in a way that is most convincing for the
audience, not that feels comfortable for you.’
The audience is similarly central to the work of the second
section, ‘story’. Newman briefly reviews the all-too-familiar
references to Robert McKee, Joseph Campbell and the hero’s
journey, but then hits us with a remarkable thought. The
hero, in any truly powerful speech or presentation, isn’t the
speaker, or the subject. The hero is the audience. The speaker
is the mentor: Obi Wan Kenobi to the audience’s Luke
Skywalker.
February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER
That single idea could transform many
a dull speech. ‘What people care about
is what they need to hear. Your focus
should be the order in which they need
to hear it.’ Storytelling is creating the
journey that takes the audience from
pain to pleasure.
The final section of the book, ‘state’,
wheels closer to the paradox of social
selfhood. We need to tame and manage
the survival-obsessed ‘monkey mind’
that plays havoc with our performance,
by giving it ‘something better to watch’.
Newman’s ten-stage visualisation
strategy –guided imagery, rehearsing
success, call it what you will –isn’t
especially original, but it is specific and
powerful.
The ultimate goal, however, is not
inner enlightenment but social action.
‘The human gift is the ability to
collaborate in very large numbers by
communicating empathetically, flexibly, adaptably and for
the greater good.’
His advice on dealing with hostility is spot on: listen,
empathise, clarify, propose. ‘It’s not your job to fix
everything. You just need to collaborate. When people
feel they have contributed to a solution, they feel more
committed to it.’
And this all matters because ‘ideas will not speak for
themselves. You have to do the speaking. If you don’t, then
someone else will put their ideas forward and they may not
be as worthwhile as your own.’
People with good ideas sometimes fail to communicate
them; the people with bad ideas, all too often, succeed by
flaunting their authenticity.
Newman’s own ideas are practical and beneficial –no small
matter when dealing with emotional vulnerability. I confess
myself less happy with the anecdotes. The accounts of failure
and success are entertaining; but collectively, they generate
an impression of emotional volatility that sits uneasily
with Newman’s evident wisdom. And one or two stories of
deeper crisis struck me, unfortunately, as a bit queasy.
But then, maybe that’s my armour talking.
 OXFORD CONFERENCE
Come Back Obama!
Seven reasons to join us for the 18th European Speechwriter Network Conference at
Queen’s College, Oxford 3-5 April 2019
1. To remember what sanity feels like
ELOQUENCE, sensitivity, good manners -these were the
political virtues espoused by Barack and Michelle Obama in
the White House.
That’s why we’ve invited Stephen Krupin, one of Barack’s
speechwriters, to run a pre-conference training workshop,
and Sarah Hurwitz, Michelle’s speechwriter, to deliver the
closing keynote. With their help, we can ensure our speakers
speak with kindness, modesty and sincerity.
2. Get a grip on mission impossible
The job of a speechwriter is complex. In fact, it’s often
impossible. You’re vulnerable. You’re isolated. You’re
expected to work miracles.
Hang out with other speechwriters in the same boat, and it
makes it okay. You grow in confidence. You learn how your
colleagues deal with the demands. You share insights which
help you to speak up for yourself and your trade.
3. Get the ‘behind the scenes perspective’
We all tend to read the same websites and newspapers, but
at the conference we’ll hear stories of how policies and ideas
actually feed into the drafting of speeches.
Jean-Claude Juncker’s speechwriter is on the programme.
As is Carlos Ghosn’s speechwriter (former head of Renault-
Nissan). Journalist, Kevin Toolis, will explain how former
UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, used a speech to sketch
out the transition from Tony Blair.
4. Take part in the ‘Eurovision’ speech contest
As a delegate, you get to experience some of the privileges of
an Oxford undergraduate. We have a three-course banquet
in Queen’s College dining hall. After dinner we have a
speech competition.
There’s always stiff competition from among the Dutch, the
Danish and the European Commission speechwriters. The
winner gets their name engraved on a trophy.
And all those taking part get a chance to speak at the
podium for a change.
5. Visit Brexit Britain
We’d all like to have visited Vienna in the 1920s, Berlin
in the 1930s or New York in the 1970s. They were seminal
times.
2
Photo: Rob Havill
Britain is having a political nervous breakdown in 2019.
Your visit will give you some anecdotal experience of how
that plays out.
6. Be inspired by Oxford’s European
humanist history
Since the Middle Ages, Oxford has brought together scholars
from across Europe. Stroll around the quadrangles and
imagine what it’s like to be part of an amazing intellectual
tradition, described by The Reverend Dr Jonathan Arnold,
Dean of Divinity, Magdalen College, Oxford:
The humanists claimed the study of good letters made people
better, more virtuous, wiser and more eloquent. It made
them worthy to exercise power and made them better citizens
and subjects when not exercising power. Humane studies
embellished life, brought pleasure and nourished piety.
7. Refresh your mind
Being stuck in the office narrows the mind, inhibits
creativity, lowers morale.
Over the past 10 years, we’ve built a vibrant community of
speechwriters from all over the world.
Get out of your silo. Enjoy some conversation. Make new
friends in a beautiful setting.
You’ll return to work on the Monday with a notebook full
of tips on how to make your research easier, your speeches
more colourful, and your job more fun.
The 18th European Speechwriter Network conference takes
place at Queen’s College, Oxford 3-5 April, 2019. Go to:
www.europeanspeechwriters.org
February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER
 3 ROBERT MCKEE

The Smartest Soundbites

Robert McKee, the great guru of screenwriting, has turned his attention to business writing in
his new book Storynomics. We’ve distilled the 12 best soundbites from the text.

1 The more the push strategies of bragging and promising lose traction, the
more marketers turn to the pull tactics of effective storytelling.

2 The difference between data and story is this: data lists what happened;
story expresses how and why it happened. Data compiles facts by quantity
and frequency; story reveals the causalities behind and beneath those facts.

3 Now more than ever, marketing via rhetorical argument provokes

scepticism in the mind of the customer and a negative attitude toward
your product or service.

4 The first step to mastering emotional manipulation is to realise that there

are only two primary emotions, pleasure and pain.

5 If emotional manipulation angers people, and if rhetorical persuasion

strikes them as BS, how can you connect with your customers? How do
you solve your marketing crisis? Story.

6 A well-told story captures our attention, holds us in suspense, and pays off with a meaningful emotional experience.

7 If you study story technique, you can learn to hook, hold, and reward your audience’s attention, as do the finest of films,
plays, and novels.

8 In the age of distraction, attention caught and held is the marketer’s single most valuable asset. And what grabs attention?
Change.

9 The essential core event in all stories ever told in the history of humanity can be expressed in just three words: conflict
changes life. Therefore, the prime definition of story becomes: a dynamic escalation of conflict-driven events that cause
meaningful change in a character’s life.

10 If your foundation story lacks against-the-odds excitement, if your corporate history marches through time with
professional but boring progress, your company can still find empathy-enhancing stories by taking on a mission.

11 Havas Media defines meaningful brands as those that inspire the thought, this brand improves my life. This sense of
enhancement envelops both the consumer and the brand in an aura of well being.

12 Aristotle advised the enterprise leaders of Athens to ‘Think like a wise man, but speak like a common man.’

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

 RUSSELL BRAND’S 12 STEPS 4

Recovery, Rhetoric & Russell Brand

You would not expect ‘repent and believe in God’ to be a popular message in the C21st, but
Russell Brand has written a bestseller which could be summarised thus. One of the roles of a
speechwriter is to change the way people think. Russell Brand has written a book that aims to
make the spiritual ideas behind the 12-steps attractive to a wide public. Does he succeed?

T he 12-steps is a
programme of spiritual
healing based on confession,
honest about how much
of a drag it is when the
conversation veers away from
storytelling and mutual himself. He’s self-deprecating
support. Alcoholics and unpredictable.
Anonymous discovered
that the ‘allergy’ could be 3. HUMILITY
alleviated through spiritual Because the 12-step
exercises including prayer movements do not employ
and meditation. people or have any
institutional hierarchy, Brand
It’s not an easy sell. can’t represent anyone other
than himself. His stories
How did Russell Brand take a
are honest and disarming.
message we’ve come to expect
He says he’s experienced all
from evangelical preachers
the indulgences that fame,
and package it for cynical
money and good-looks can
millennials?
bring, but ultimately they
1. PROFANITY were unsatisfying. He quotes
examples of when he was self-
Spiritual ideas are not
centered and the actions he
normally expressed in
took to amend.
coarse language. Brand uses
profanity and vulgarity. The 4. OPENNESS
12-steps are 12 instructions
Some people say 12-step
on how to overcome the
fellowships are a cult. Brand
disease. The original 12-steps Photo: Flickr / Jessie Essex deals with this. He said when
use plain language: ‘We
he first heard the lines about
admitted that we were
turning ‘our will and our lives over to the care of God’, it
powerless over our addiction, that our lives had become
sounded like ‘a cosy version of ISIS’. His feelings were: ‘Don’t
unmanageable’.
tell me what to do, I’m an individual.’ It probably doesn’t
The third step includes a reference to ‘God, as we understood persuade everyone, but he doesn’t deny his initial feelings
him’. In Russell’s hands, the first step becomes: ‘Are you a bit about the system. He sees it from a sceptical millennial’s
f**ked?’ He manages to get the f-word into 9 of the 12 steps. point of view.
The first paragraphs of the book are a lurid description of
5. STORYTELLING
death including a reference to masturbation. The language
gets attention and is an antidote to sanctimony. Somehow it The perception of Russell Brand is that he is the epitome
doesn’t get in the way of the message. of the shallow, narcissistic half-wit who would only rise to
prominence in a celebrity culture. He turns this on its head
2. HUMOUR by telling stories that express spiritual depth, humility and
In the first chapter, Russell describes the luxury that comes subtle intelligence. The book ends with a metaphor that
with being a pampered superstar. He tells the story of how illustrates the second step –we believed a Power greater
he was in a towering chintzy hotel where he couldn’t open than ourselves could restore us to sanity. He describes the
the windows. He felt suffocated, alone and in despair. A transformation he goes through when his first child is born.
profound sense of emptiness overwhelmed him. He had an
Brand has 499 reviews on Amazon.co.uk, 82% of them are
epiphany.
five stars. That’s very impressive for a book about spirituality.
We’re braced for a life-changing insight. Then he says he A few of these strategies are difficult to for us to adopt as
actually just moved to another hotel. It’s funny. At other speechwriters, but Brand proves it is possible to present
points he quotes intellectuals like Michel Foucault, he says unpalatable ideas to a mass audience and at least persuade
don’t choose a Daily Mail columnist as a sponsor and he’s them to try them out.

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

 UK SPEECHWRITERS’ GUILD

Ten Things You Didn’t Know About

The First Ten Years Of The UK
Speechwriters’ Guild

1 There’s a familiar tradition of British entrepreneurs going to the United States,

seeing an idea in action and then bringing it back to the UK. In 2008, Brian
Jenner was invited to the Ragan Communications conference for speechwriters
in Washington. Having never met a speechwriter before, he found himself
in a hotel with 220 other speechwriters. It was an exhilarating experience. It
inspired him and he used a similar format for the first UK conference.

2 The most controversial contribution to the conference came in 2012 when

Danish rhetoric expert, Christian Eversbusch, made a speech titled: Hitler: Pure
Evil or Cunning Craftsmanship (including impressions). It’s still available as a
podcast.

3 Martin Shovel and Martha Leyton from CreativityWorks have attended 16 of

the 17 conferences to date. They spoke at the first conference about their viral
YouTube video, Busting the Mehrabian Myth.

4 The first speaker at the first conference in September 2009 in Bournemouth

was the Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood MP. He was a plain MP then, he’s now
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence, People and Veterans.

5 The European Speechwriter Network was founded in 2012. It would be nice

to say there was a grand vision, but the truth is lots of Dutch and Danish were
asking if they could join the UK Speechwriters’ Guild. It seemed commercially
sensible to extend the tribe.

6 We’ve had speeches from a Jesuit priest, a New York rabbi and a Church of
England preaching expert. We also had a clergymen who delivered a mime.

7 The first person to sign up for the UK Speechwriters’ Guild was Dutch. The
first Dutch delegates came to the second conference in Bournemouth (although
Johann Siebers gave a presentation at the first one). They have been enthusiastic
attenders of the conferences ever since.

8 The intellectual inspiration behind the conference was Dr Max Atkinson,

author of Our Masters’ Voices and Lend Me Your Ears. At the time his blog
www.maxatkinson.blogspot.com was offering fascinating insights on the rise of
Obama. It had a big following. The title of the first conference was, Why is there
no British Obama?

9 We started off giving an annual award. ‘The Business Communicator of the

Year’ was given to five speakers: Martin Broughton, Rory Sutherland, Geoff
Burch, Gillian Tett and Steve Bee. We managed to persuade three of them to
come to a conference, pick up their award and speak for no fee ;-)

10 The conference speaking contest was devised by Renée Broekmeulen at the

Oxford conference in 2016. In 2018, it was renamed the Fred Metcalf Memorial
Trophy. Delegates have to make a two-minute after-dinner speech after the
banquet. Previous winners include Guy Doza, Lech Mintowt-Czyz, Tom
Moylan and Geoffrey Mamdani.

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

7 Sarah Hurwitz

Sarah Hurwitz Q&A

Sarah Hurwitz wrote speeches for the former First Lady, Michelle Obama. She will be sharing
her insights at the 18th Speechwriters’ & Business Communicators’ Conference at Queen’s
College, Oxford from 3-5 April 2019.

Photo: Chuck Kennedy/The WhiteHouse

What was the first speech you ever wrote? a unique kind of partnership. I never wrote in a team in the

I
believe it was about twenty years ago when I was
working as a researcher for a speechwriter in Maryland
state government. It was a short set of remarks for an
event celebrating the release of a coin with the Maryland
statehouse stamped on the back. I vaguely –and with
considerable embarrassment –recall including a joke based
on the phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is.’
White House, but I often brainstormed with colleagues and
sought out their help when I was stuck.
Which font and line spacing do you use for
your manuscripts?
It depends on the speaker. I’ve done anywhere from 18-24
point font, and usually do 1.5 or double spacing.

How did you end up writing speeches at the
White House?
I started out as an intern in Vice President Al Gore’s
speechwriting office in the White House when I was in
college. The speechwriters for whom I worked helped me
get my first job after I graduated, and that job led to jobs as
a speechwriter for a U.S. Senator and then on several losing
presidential campaigns. Fortunately, I finally wound up on
a winning campaign –that of Barack Obama. I was then
hired to write for President Obama and then later First Lady
Michelle Obama in the White House.
Do you have a tip for aspiring young
speechwriters?
The best way to learn the craft of speechwriting is on the
job, so if you have an opportunity to intern or work for a
talented speechwriter, definitely do so. I also advise young
people to do whatever they can to accumulate speechwriting
samples. That might mean volunteering to write a speech for
a local elected official, or business leader, or even the dean or
president of your university. Once you have actual samples
of your writing, it’s easier to get hired because potential
employers can get a sense of your talent.

Did you ever write speeches in teams? Where do you look for jokes?
I did some freelance speechwriting in law school with a Joke-writing really isn’t my strength, so I usually seek out my
classmate who had previously been a speechwriter –we funnier colleagues for help.
actually sat side by side and wrote speeches line by line
together. But that’s an inefficient way to write and requires

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

 La ConfErence des Plumes
La Conférence des Plumes by Brian Jenner
On the 26 October 2018, the first ‘Conférence des Plumes’ took place at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris.
A ‘plume’ is a ghostwriter or speechwriter.
F or me it was a very satisfying
day. I studied French at
university between 1987 and
1991. I spent one year living
in Strasbourg, but I’d never
been able to use my foreign
language skills as part of my
job.
However, since 2009, I’d been
organising events for the European to:
Pho
Speechwriter Network. We’d had 17
conferences. Delegates came from Germany, the Netherlands
and Denmark, but, with the exception of a handful working
in international institutions, the French didn’t come. And,
unlike the Germans and the Dutch, they had no professional
network with which I could build a relationship.
Out of the blue one day I was called up by a French journalist
writing an article about speechwriting. He made a note of
my lament about the French and published my thoughts
in his article. I then got an email from Hélène Faure, a
speechwriter who worked for Manuel Valls, the former
Prime Minister of France.
Fred Metcalf
Memorial Trophy
Two years ago, Fred Metcalf, Sir David Frost’s former
speechwriter, died. Fred was a keen supporter of the UK
Speechwriters’ Guild. He attended three conferences and
regaled us with his one-liners every time.
In his memory we’ve invested in a trophy which will be
awarded to the winner of our informal after-dinner speaking
contest in Oxford in April.
Fred Metcalf’s Favourite One-Liners
On how to become a good speaker: ‘Practise all the time.
One of the best ways is to put a bunch of marbles in your
mouth while you talk. Slowly but surely you take away
a marble. And then, when you’ve lost all your marbles,
you’re a public speaker.’
‘Good ladies, evening and gentlemen… I knew I should
have practised this speech.’
8
I invited her to attend a European conference, and then I
asked her to speak. She did a brilliant presentation in Leuven
in 2017.
Hélène introduced me to some of her colleagues and I
suggested a conference in French. In June, I went to Paris
and found a venue. We invited people to speak quite
randomly. We sold tickets on Eventbrite. I thought we’d get
20. We got 40.
l
vil
Ha
Ro
b The quality of contributions was outstanding. I learnt how
one corporate speechwriter used to write 70% in French
and 30% in English in 2012. Now it was 70% in English
and 30% in French. I heard about the way things work for
a Disneyland Paris speechwriter, a woman who has set
up a school for novelists, how a freelancer got a job with
one of the top executives in the world and how a former
professional tennis player became a speechwriter.
Two other Brits from the UK Speechwriters’ Guild joined me
to support the conference. I came to two conclusions. The
first is that there is a community of committed speechwriters
in France. And secondly we’ll host a European Speechwriter
Network conference in Paris in autumn 2019.
Photo: Rob Havill
‘The best way to stay awake in an after-dinner speech is
to give it.’
‘Some couples go over their budgets very carefully every
month, others just go over them.’
‘Advice to speakers: if you don’t know what to talk about,
talk about three minutes.’
February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER
9 GUY DOZA

Teaching Speechwriting in Kazakhstan by Guy Doza

Last year I had a peculiar request. I was invited to go to Kazakhstan for two days to train a group of 50 civil servants
from a range of different ministries.

I ’ve given countless training

courses to various parliaments
across Europe, but this time
the training would all be
delivered in Russian. This meant
that whilst I was speaking in
English, the audience would be
listening through simultaneous
interpretation. This posed several
problems.

First of all, I wasn’t sure how

long it would take me to deliver
the material that I had. As I
remember from my time at the
European Parliament everything
takes longer when you have to
wait for the interpreter to catch
up. Also, I’ve been told that
everything takes longer to say in
Russian than English. This also
meant that whilst I was speaking
in English I had to listen to the
Russian interpretation at the same time which was often very
distracting. I had to listen to the Russian to know when I
could carry on talking, otherwise, the interpreters wouldn’t
have time to catch up.
Once I got into the flow of the simultaneous interpretation
it all went very smoothly. I had good and meaningful
conversations with the delegates, I answered their questions
and I gave them feedback on their practical assignments. But
then we went for a coffee break and I realised that I was all
of a sudden unable to talk to anyone. I awkwardly sipped on
my coffee surrounded by a babble of Russian and Kazakh
understanding absolutely nothing of what was being said.
Fortunately, one of my two interpreters decided to stand next
to me and interpret the small talk and all of a sudden I had
my voice again!
Another problem I faced was that it was really hard to find
examples of speeches that I could share with the audiences.
Any videos that I showed in English would have to be
interpreted, and in many cases the speeches were too fast
for the interpreters to keep up. I had to find examples of
speeches where a speaker spoke very slowly. I also found
some examples of speeches in Russian and Kazakh, but this
also posed a set of problems.
Most of the speeches in Russian on YouTube don’t have
English subtitles. The ones that do tend to be of Vladimir
Putin. The only speeches I could find by Kazakh politicians
with English subtitles were of the President Nursultan
Photo: Guy Doza
Nazarbayev. I was hesitant to use his videos as he is not a
figure that I could openly analyse in the way that I normally
would. I would feel much more confident criticising my own
Prime Minister than I would President Nazarbayev. In the
end I showed them one of his speeches and I made sure that
all of my analysis was positive and carefully constructed not
to seem negative on the First President of the Republic of
Kazakhstan.
Culturally, the mentality towards speeches is very different
in Kazakhstan than it is in the western world. In Europe we
often try to be charismatic and emphasise our human side.
In Kazakhstan it seems to be very different. They want their
politicians to be powerful, respectable, and serious. This
means they weren’t too keen on the idea of using jokes or
any sort of emotive tropes in their speeches. This could be a
cultural remnant from Kazakhstan’s Soviet past or it could
be the result of various other factors. Whatever the case, it
was clear that the expectation of a speaker was different.
This meant that I had to adapt my training materials to
make it relevant to the Kazakh audience. Having said this, I
still made sure to emphasise this difference to them so that
they understood that when they were writing for or speaking
to an international audience they had to adapt their style and
language.
Overall the workshop went really well. The delegates learnt
a lot about rhetoric and were keen to apply what they had
learnt to their next assignment.

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

 EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY 10

The Speechwriter’s Year

Events for your diary organised by the European Speechwriter Network & UK Speechwriters’ Guild 2019.
All tickets can be purchased through the website: www.europeanspeechwriters.org

Thursday 7 March Thursday 14 March

Alan Barker: The Essentials Alan Barker: The Essentials

of Speechwriting of Speechwriting
LEUVEN LONDON

WEDNESDAY 3 - FRIDAY 5 APRIL Thursday 16 - Friday 17 May

18th European Speechwriter 1st European Copywriters’

Network Conference Conference
Queen’s College, Oxford De Burcht, Amsterdam

Thursday 19 September Thursday 26 – Friday 27 September

The Essentials of 19th European Speechwriter

Speechwriting Network Conference
LONDON Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (tbc)

Thursday 17 October Thursday 28 November

The Essentials of UK Speechwriters’ Guild

Speechwriting Christmas Party
LEUVEN (tbc)

February 2019 THE SPEECHWRITER

 WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN SPEECHWRITER NETWORK?

What is the European Speechwriter Network?

T he European Speechwriter Network, which includes
the UK Speechwriters’ Guild, is a group of professional
writers who enjoy sharing practical insights into the trade.
The function of language is
threefold: to communicate
thought, volition, and
We do this by meeting at two conferences each year (one emotion.
in the UK and one abroad) and at the occasional speaker
meeting. We also tweet, publish an annual magazine and a Studying the liberal
regular e-newsletter. arts is an intransitive
activity; the effects of
We champion the study of rhetoric: the art of
studying these arts stays
communication. Rhetoric is a great European tradition.

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within the individual

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While our conferences are in English, we appreciate Ro

b
and perfects the faculties of to:
that rhetoric is a feature of all languages. We like to find Pho
the mind and spirit. The study
inspiration in unusual places. Sister Miriam Joseph was an
of liberal arts is like the blooming of a rose; it brings to
American nun and English professor 1898-1982. She wrote
fruition the possibilities of human nature. The utilitarian
a book called The Trivium, from which we can draw three
or servile arts enable one to be a servant - of another
useful quotations to guide us:
person, of the state, of a corporation, or of a business -
and to earn a living. The liberal arts, in contrast, teach
Logic is the art of thinking; grammar, the art of inventing
one how to live; they train the faculties and bring them to
symbols and combining them to express thought;
perfection; they enable a person to rise above his material
and rhetoric, the art of communicating thought from
environment to live an intellectual, a rational, and
one mind to another, the adaptation of language to
therefore a free life in gaining truth.
circumstance.

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• Discounts on training and
conferences
• Details of in-house jobs
• Speechwriting checklist to use
to evaluate your speeches
• A copy of Eloquence - A
Treasury of Speechwriting
Advice
Membership
£600/ €800 + VAT for one year
We will allocate you a trainer who will
evaluate five speechwriting assignments over
one year. These can either be speeches that you
do in the course of your work for an employer
or assignments to fulfil for yourself.
These speeches will be assessed in
writing by your trainer and you will get
recommendations on how you can improve.
You will also be entitled to a 30-minute phone
call after each of your assignments to discuss
your work.
• E-mail updates with details of conferences
and training sessions
• A copy of Max Atkinson’s book, Lend Me
Your Ears
• A copy of Trade Secrets: Jokes, stories and
quotations for desperate speechwriters
• Regular eight-page magazine The
Speechwriter, with tips, quotations and
tricks of the trade for the professional
speechwriter.
• Discounts on training and conferences
• Speechwriting checklist to use to evaluate
your speeches
• A copy of Eloquence - A Treasury of
Speechwriting Advice