Saturday, November 15, 2008

Mailbag

Well, it's Saturday morning, and here in Maryland, it is cloudy, humid, and misty with a sticky breeze blowing wet leaves all over my yard. Our neighbors were going to come over and have a leaf-blowing party, but the weather did not cooperate. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day for that! I love living in the woods except for the few weeks prior to Thanksgiving when nothing seems to stay free from fallen foliage! Leaves are everywhere, from the far corners of the garage to our Golden Retriever's belly, and it makes quite the mess.

I am really happy with the response so far for The Speechwriter. I was expecting this inaugural week to be fairly low-key with the exception of the meanderings from friends and family. Much to my surprise, I was wrong! I appreciate all of the emails with your questions, suggestions, and comments. Keep them coming!

Because of the response, I have decided to dedicate the last posting of every week to your questions and comments. I'll call this "The Mailbag." Here's what you had to say this week:

I ran across your blog at XING and thought it was good. I've always been a fan of speech writing. I had never heard of Gorgias until I read your posts so I did some research. Is it true he always wore purple? If so, why? -- Carl, Chicago

Thanks for taking the time to email me, Carl. I hope you do enjoy the blog, and I will try to keep it interesting. Yes, Gorgias did wear purple. In fact, it was -- oh, how do I put it -- his thing. He spent a lot of money importing his tunics and robes from Phoenicia to get the purple dye, and he always wore purple when he spoke. There has been a lot of speculation as to why he did this. Some scholars think that it was because he wanted to appear "royal." After all, purple was the color of royalty then. I think that might be part of the reason, but I believe it had more to do with his views on oratory. You see, flamboyant colors are the best way to keep the audience's attention on you as a speaker. Purple clothing set him apart from everyone else, and I believe it was just another component of his philosophy. It was purposeful, and it worked. As well, it fits right into his belief that an orator should be "poetic," and purple robing was his poetic fashion statement.

Good work so far! I'd like you to add some of your personality into your writing. Be great to know a little about your life. -- Susan, Cottage Grove

Thanks, Susan, for your feedback. I had been wondering if I should do that, and it looks like I erred on the wrong side! I will try to start every posting with some personalization. I agree that it is important. The goal of the speechwriter is to keep his/her personality out of the speech for the speaker's sake. But this isn't a speech, is it?

I'm writing a report for my Social Studies class on propaganda. I saw your blog when I was doing some research. Can you help me out? -- Allie, Ft. Lauderdale

Allie, I appreciate your asking me for help. It's such a broad topic, and I don't know any of the requirements for your paper. The biggest advice I could give you is to make sure you use primary sources -- books and scholarly journals -- for your paper, and make sure that you cite those sources. From a general point of view, I would offer you the suggestion to keep it general and really define propaganda and how its been used in, say, the 20th Century. There's some very good examples of use and abuse of it, especially around WWII. In fact, you could look at propaganda in WWII as used by Goebbels, Churchill, and Roosevelt. Or, you could look at the U.S.'s role in propaganda during the Cold War. Those are just a few examples. Good luck!

How do you become a speechwriter? -- Tara, Wisconsin

Wow, a lot of emails from the Mid-West! Thanks, Tara, for your question. This is not an easy one to answer because anyone with the desire to write speeches for a living can do it if they are interested in writing, write somewhat well, and like to do research. I am a big proponent of education, and most speechwriters have at least a post-graduate degree. That doesn't mean you can't do it with just a bachelor's degree, but those folks are few and far between these days. You actually hit a nerve with me because I was having this very discussion with a colleague the other day. It seems that a lot of the newer speechwriters are coming into the profession with a MFA in Creative Writing. That bothers me. Speech writing is so much more than writing creatively, and it requires much more insight and understanding of communication than does the ability to write a haiku. Personally, I think people with a background in Rhetoric write the most effective speeches. And if you can find someone who has that background and couple it with the ability to write creatively, then you have the makings of a wonderful speechwriter!

Great job and great website, by the way. Just one question. Why don't you have any examples of speeches posted? -- Harvey, Washington, D.C.

Thank you for your question, Harvey. Unlike speechwriters who work full-time for the White House, I write speeches for those people who do not need a staff speechwriter. In most cases, these individuals prefer that no one knows they did not write the speech. But, whether it's because they do not have time to write speeches for themselves, or they do not feel comfortable doing it, they hire me. To reassure them of their privacy, I include anonymity clauses for all contracts. This prohibits me from being able to publish the speech.

That's it for this week. Again, I appreciate all the feedback. Please keep it coming. If you have questions or comments, just email me at mark@markhoneycutt.com. I'll be sure to address them in "The Mailbag."





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