http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog Speechwriters Blog on Speechwriting Sun, 08 May 2011 17:24:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Total Politics has published an article I wrote on the secret world of Whitehall Speechwriting in this month's issue. I've pasted the full text of the article below. RITES OF PASSAGE… Every social group has its own rites of passage. You're not a real traveller until you've caught malaria. You're not a ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/article-in-total-politics-magazine/ Yesterday, I blogged about how alliterative pairs create the impression of balance and order, which is why they feature so frequently in Budget statements. George Osborne's statement did not disappoint. The climactic soundbite was an alliterative pair - 'The March of the Makers' - and they were generally scattered throughout the ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/budget-speech-alliterative-pair-watch/ In Ancient Rome, the great rhetorician Quintilian said, 'It is as ridiculous to hunt for rhetorical figures without reference to the matter in hand, as it is to discuss dress and gesture without reference to the body.' Tomorrow, the matter in hand is the Budget and by far the best rhetorical ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/a-strong-and-stable-soundbite/ "It is very hard to fault this carefully crafted book. As the longest serving government speechwriter until he left Whitehall in 2007 to form the Bespoke agency, Simon Lancaster knows his craft. Cutting his teeth writing for Patricia Hewitt and then Alan Johnson, he now writes for a broader audience ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/review-of-speechwriting-in-public-service-magazine/ It's not just the meaning of a word that matters but the feelings it rouses. This is true of all language but particularly political language where most of the dialogue between politicians and the electorate takes place at an emotional and unconscious level. I've blogged before about the connotations of the ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/has-labour-banned-the-word-coalition/ Mildly amused to see all this fuss about Harriet Harman calling Danny Alexander a 'ginger rodent'. Everyone's alighting on the 'ginger' part of the gag but I'm more interested in the 'rodent'. Vermin metaphors are extraordinarily powerful and emotive rhetorical devices. They're most frequently used by people who want to suggest either ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/dirty-rats/ The Mail on Sunday has reviewed my book, Speechwriting: The Expert Guide, in today's paper. I'm absolutely THRILLED that they've given it FOUR STARS (one more than they've given Simon Winchester's new book). You can download the full review from files.me.com/simonlancaster/gugsu5 but here are some of the highlights: 'Whether you wish to write ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/four-star-review-for-my-book-from-the-mail-on-sunday/ I'm all for using words with powerful connotations but John Prescott went way over the line calling Alan Milburn a 'collaborator' for accepting a role as social mobility csar in the new coalition government. Whether it was Prescott's intent to invoke associations with the Nazis or not that was certainly the ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/word-war-ii/ I helped write an editorial for today's Guardian on the timeless wonder of the rule of three. The link is here: http://bit.ly/ciqkIt http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/in-praise-of-the-rule-of-three/ I have always been a huge fan of Jon Cruddas so it is in a spirit of great affection that I point out this sentence from his Guardian article today: 'These problems existed beneath the radar before the recession struck in 2008, but they were masked by the fruits of an ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/cruddas-a-man-of-many-metaphors/