Speechwriting for Communicators 

You're writing speeches, brief remarks and talking points all the time. But like many communications pros, this specialty skill may be one for which you've never had proper training. That means you may be reinventing the rhetorical wheel every time you sit down to write a speech, wasting time and effort--or repeating mistakes and tactics that make your speaker or spokesperson less effective at the lectern. 

If that's true for you, this one-day workshop offers a focused fix, letting you catch up on the speechwriting skills you may have missed. If you find yourself being called on more and more to "fill in" as a speechwriter, or if several members of your team share speechwriting duties, but lack training or experience as full-time speechwriters, this is the workshop for you.

You'll bring an existing speech to work on, and you'll do some hands-on writing and editing throughout the day, as you learn:

• Five key rhetorical rules and a myth you may have missed. These rules (and the myth) will help you structure speeches and sentences effectively and make them sing, all at once. You'll learn structures for specific speaking tasks as well as the most useful ones to keep in your back pocket for any occasion.
• How to support or enliven your points with anecdotes, examples, visual language, and storytelling techniques. You'll learn the crucial skill of including only the needed details to make your points effectively.
• Taking a speech from good to great. We'll share five factors that make basic speeches beautiful and draw the listeners in, every time. You'll learn how to avoid the common problems that plague pedestrian speeches, and what to do instead.
• Better speeches for boring occasions. Some speeches are more fun to work on than others, so we'll take some everyday, not-so-exciting occasions that demand remarks and remake them into works in which you can take pride.
• Under the hood: Mechanics of speech preparation. From timing your text and read-aloud tests you should apply, to handling different versions of a speech and preparing a reading text that helps your speaker, you'll learn the tasks that keep speechwriters and speakers out of trouble.
• Resources for mastering speechwriting. Learn about the resources, organizations and tools you can use to keep your speechwriting skills sharp.

Continental breakfast and lunch are included in your registration. You're encouraged to bring an existing speech or two, as well as a laptop or notebook, so you can write and edit in the hands-on exercises throughout the day. Every participant also will receive a toolkit of resources you can use again and again as your speechwriting progresses. Many participants attend in teams, a smart move that lets you and your colleagues reinforce and extend what you've learned long after the workshop is over.

Register early to save 15 percent: Early registration is $599.00 if you sign up by midnight EDT on August 29, 2014. From August 30, registration is $699.00. All registration closes October 2, 2014, or when this small-group workshop is full, so sign up today! We use PayPal to process payments. Please note that you can use PayPal's Bill Me Later service for no payments and no interest if your registration is paid in full in 6 months. Just select Bill Me Later on the payments page. Please be sure to read our Workshops FAQ and policy--when you click on the Register Now button below, you are signifying that you have read and accepted these policies, which cover cancellations, transfers and refunds.

Trainer Denise Graveline has worked on every side of the speechwriting process: as a communications pro writing speeches and supervising speechwriters, as a speaker, and as a speaker coach and trainer. She has prepared speakers to appear before Congress, on national television, before industry keynote audiences, on the TEDMED stage and on TED.com. A frequent speaker herself, Graveline has delivered industry keynotes, chaired conferences, testified in Congress and spoken in the British Parliament. She has led communications or media relations for some of the largest nonprofit organizations in the U.S., and served as a Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications, Education and Public Affairs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, filtering all public statements and writing for and advising senior officials and Cabinet members in the Clinton Administration. She has keynoted the UK Speechwriters Guild conference and chaired the European Speechwriters Network conference, and publishes the popular blogs The Eloquent Woman, on women and public speaking, and don't get caught, on communications, message development and social media.