5 Surprising Things I Do when Editing a Speech

Every speechwriter has their own weird and wonderful editing process. Here are a few of the things I do, which might help you polish your next speech.

  1. Label the sections

    When I’m going through a speech I label each section in square brackets and all caps. For example, if there are four paragraphs about the economy in a speech I write [MACRO ECONOMIC OUTLOOK] where they start. I do this for a couple of reasons: First, if you start moving sections around it’s easy to see which paragraphs belong together, and second, it helps you get really clear on what purpose each section serves.

    This approach comes with a warning though: Ask your principal if they want these labels in the final text or not. Some speakers say it helps them navigate where they are in the text but others will accidentally say them out loud. I wrote for one guy who both liked the headings AND had a tendency to them out loud so we kept them in, but highlighted them in yellow.

  2. Print the whole thing out

    If I have a speech and I know the flow isn’t quite right, I print it out single-sided and lay the pages on the kitchen table. Somehow getting a bird’s eye view of the whole thing helps me see what’s not working. I always mark up the printed copy by hand before going back to the computer and putting in the changes. This can be really helpful with particularly long speeches or thought leadership pieces. If I’m short on time or the printer is out of ink I zoom out in Word so I can see all the pages on the screen at once.

  3. Run through it in my head

    When I have a first draft of a speech I read it through in my head in the voice of the principal. I don’t do this out loud because most of the people I write for are American and I sound very silly when I try an American accent. If I can’t hear them say the words in my head I know I haven’t got the vocabulary quite right and I need to start tweaking some of the language.

  4. Speak it out loud

    When I have a final draft I print out a hard copy of the speech and say it out loud, in my own voice! This is a really important final step because you can pick up things that you may not notice when you read it in your head; incidental alliteration or rhyming that’s unintentional, for example, are easier to catch when spoken aloud.

  5. make the speech longer

    I know this sounds weird, but unlike most writers I start with something shorter and then pad it out through the editing process. For me, the first draft is always about nailing the framework of the speech. Then, when I’m going through I use it as an opportunity to add more proof points and stories and links between the ideas. Most speechwriters I know start with something longer and then cut it down. Whichever type of writer you are, the most import thing is that the final word count matches the need and speaking speed of the speaker.

Previous
Previous

How to write a better commencement speech

Next
Next

4 Ways to Get your Op-Ed Published