Eulogies

There is probably no more difficult speech to write or give than the eulogy. Eulogies work best when they are simple. They should focus on the life of the deceased and be, if possible a celebration of that life. It is worth collecting some anecdotes from those who knew the deceased well. A little gentle humour goes a long way and can be a great relief. Be sensitive to the deceased’s wishes and to the place of the service. Try and steer away from overblown sentiment and outpourings of grief. Aim for a genuine and heartfelt appreciation of the life of the deceased. None of us are perfect and now is not the time to settle scores. Ask yourself how you would wish to be remembered.

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Words tumblin’ down like hail. Hot tip. Had to listen to another undecipherable mutton soup of a speech last night. Listen people, words are like waves, slow and steady, let them wash up on that beach of an audience. Slow and pace your speech delivery. Let the words come out one by one with pauses, and breaks. Always always slower than you think. Project what you are saying clearly, making each baby gem count.

DONTJUMBLETHEMALLTOGETHERITSCONFUSING. Too many waves together equals tidal wave. Words are like snowflakes (not really but go with me on this one) softly (but audibly) falling, steadily building up, settling down and sinking in. Too many snowflakes bundled on top on one another equals avalanche.

Those are your words, this is your speech. Make it count. Nobody likes getting drowned.

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Why wait? - Do it now.

Today’s speech is on Procrastination. Motivating myself to write this speech was ironically rather hard. I felt in good company - in fact the more I thought about it, the more it seemed that putting things off, might well be the one thing that unites every one on the entire planet. The reasons and excuses being as varied and creative as the day is long. And there is only one cure. Sitting down, doing it, minute by minute, word by unpalatable word. That’s how speeches get written then; even one on procrastination.

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Graduation Commencement Speeches.
I’ve been looking around for a few variations on these. I mean how many times can you say ‘reach for the stars’ ? Unsurprisingly there are few speakers who tell it as it is, ie: it’s going to be a hell of a struggle and statistically 10% of you will be dead in the next ten years. All the graduates want to hear is short, short, short. There is one ray of hope I came across. It’s from Dr Suess and it’s called, ‘Oh, the places You’ll Go’ http//www.mit.edu/people/adorai/seuss/seussboy.html’ - check it out.

It’s pretty cool and perhaps a work of genius. Would make a hell of a commencement speech though.

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Change of command speech.

They’re changing the guard at Buckingham Palace. Well actually they are changing command in the forces all around the world and guess what? They all have to make a change of command speech. So today’s speech is just that, a change of command speech for a Navy commander. Here’s a small gem of advice I found given to an incoming commander for his speech.

‘Stand up, shut up and sit down.’ (I’m telling you ’simplicity’ is the new black). I’m just guessing here but I think that advice might have come from someone in the audience.

Though that doesn’t leave a lot of room for the incoming commander to express his or her sentiments for the future does it?

But I guess that’s where speech-writers come in.

Never knowingly short of words- Marco.

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Simple stuff.
I’m nearly all through with the speech on Simplicity. I think it is worthy of another and more profound post.
There is nothing it seems that is not better for being simple. It works for design, fashion, technology (think Google and ipod). It works for art. Picasso anyone? It works for poetry, science, religion and even according to some, God.
Simplicity is the key.
So why should speeches be any different?
And why is it sooo hard to make things simple, eh?

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Motivating and Business speeches

Today I’m in a motivating speech mood. ‘Simplicity’ is the keystone. I like the sound of simplifying everything down. So I’m reseaching the word, the topic, the religion (Quakers and Taoists) and can you believe the language? It’s called Toki Pona and was invented in 2001. It has something like 118 words in total. Incredible. If I ever have to study languages again, I’m electing for this one. Anyway I came across a guy Bill Jensen whose written a couple of books on simplicity in business and life. There is a stat along the lines of 80% of business communication has absolutely nothing to do with getting things done. Wow.

That includes meetings, e-mails and presentations, which is where I come in writing business speeches. He talks about getting people engaged being the key to simplicity. So you make a business speech like a story. You describe where we are, where we want to be and how to get there. I’ve adapted that last bit a little as I think it sounds better.

If you have anything else in your business speech, it’s probably in the 80%. I’m going to bear it in mind. As for the motivational speech on ‘Simplicity’. I’m still working on it. It’s more complicated than I thought.

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