http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog Speechwriters Blog on Speechwriting Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:30:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Nice use of metaphor by Brown today as he unveiled Whitehall's worst-kept secret, that the Budget will be held on 24th March. He's run with a 'stormy waters' metaphor. 'Whilst we have come through the worst of this dreadful storm, the waters are still choppy. We have got through this ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/stormy-waters/ http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/yes-minister-meets-alice-in-wonderland-20100220-omsa.html A wonderful story from a (short-lived) speechwriter at the Australian Department of Health. Of course, Whitehall speechwriter inductions are much more thoughtfully organised... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/a-ministerial-speechwriter-at-the-department-of-health-spills-the-beans/ For the last thirteen years, Alastair Darling has tested to the limit Harold Wilson's aphorism that, 'The power to bore is one of the most powerful weapons in the politician's arsenal.' His speeches have ranked amongst Whitehall's dullest - lacking stories, soundbites, imagery or argument. But this style enabled Darling to ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/everything-alright-darling/ Up early this morning for an interview with the wonderful Kate Silverton on Five Live. Scroll forward to 1:19:00. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r0pbd/Kate_Silverton_21_02_2010/ It was a good discussion with an informed panel. I first met George Jones around ten years ago at TUC when he was reporting on an Alan Johnson speech. I also crossed ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/interview-with-radio-five-live/ A reader emailed to remind me of another famous 'appeal to pity' which backfired - Charles Kennedy. Absolutely right, with his first appeal to stay on as Lib Dem leader after his drink problem was exposed. http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/another-pitiful-performance/ One of the big questions speechwriters have to consider is what emotion they want to unleash in their audience, e.g. hope or fear, pride or shame, passion or anger. Usually, this is worked out by weighing up the audience's emotions, the speaker's character and the nature of the argument. The answer ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/a-pitiful-performance/ Brown’s first and favourite technique is the alliterative pair. ‘Listen and learn. Challenge and change. Boom and bust.’ Alliterative pairs are designed to suggest causal connections. And it works. But you might need a ‘pile of paracetemol’ afterward… Second. Brown argues from statistics. 500,000 businesses. 2 million jobs. ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/text-of-guardian-podcast/ I recorded a podcast for The Guardian yesterday, analysing the difference between Brown and Cameron's rhetorical styles. You can hear it here http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/audio/2010/feb/11/hung-parliament. Scroll forward to 11.45. http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/guardian-podcast/ http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2010/02/speech-obama-blair-british The New Statesman have published a terrific article on 'The Art of Speechwriting,' with a few quotes from me. I think that this is one of the most thoughtful and accurate articles on 'our trade' in years. Sophie Elmhirst is always a fabulous journalist and she's certainly done a job ... http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/new-statesman-article/ Crikey. There must be some new writers in Number Ten. Brown just punched out a couple of corkers in PMQs. 'The more he talks, the less he says.' 'The Tories inheritance tax policy was dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton.' This is better than the usual, isn't it? http://www.bespokespeeches.com/blog/golden-brown/