Speech writing requests come to me from different directions and so the task is very much to pull together the threads of what the client is wanting to say and interspersing it with observations and experiences from my life.
These experiences give me the words to weave through any speech.
The key thing for me is to record the rabbit hole entrances in a journal or notebook. That’s when it gets embedded in my mind.
I particularly enjoy finding people of interest each week – people who produce a range of output. Usually, they are creatives. This week’s POI were Questlove, Thomas Edison, and Louis Armstrong. Behind these people is a range of inventions, creations, and interests. I delve deep into their marginalia and always uncover volumes of output. They are always creating or inventing. They are always producing. This is why I was interested in someone’s view of ambition that I read. To them, it was not about having goals. It was about having a life, living a world, focus on the now and create from that point.
Writing is the same. The observation to write before you’re ready resonated with me. In fact, once written, the piece becomes ready.
Which makes this piece ready to post.