Professionally Speaking Blog
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Exec|Comm LLC helps you communicate with more impact by teaching you how to focus more on others and less on yourself. In learning this, you can more powerfully impact the world.
Professionally Speaking Blog
1M ago
My letter to the Weekend FT was somewhat marred by what I thought was a misleading title written by an FTT sub-editor. In contrast, my 2019 letter disputing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s claim to be “the first populist that was elected” was given a brilliant title: A.I. Sub Working on tight deadlines, on a Friday night at ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
1M ago
As I’ve previously noted, the late author Leonard Shlain has written several insightful books that examine how literacy reconfigured the human brain and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. I was especially impressed by his analysis of the impact of the alphabet. I wrote a letter to the Financial Times in ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
2M ago
Display of wealth through clothes arrived in Europe in the late thirteenth century when a person’s class affiliation was signaled by what they wore. Because dress was recognized as an expressive and a potent means of social distinction, it was often exploited by the upper classes to gain leverage over others. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu argues ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
2M ago
My 3-part series on ways generative A.I. can be of value to speechwriters started with a simple example of generating ideas for a Best Man’s wedding speech, reviewed how it can help corporate speechwriters, and concluded with a deep dive into political speechwriting. In all cases, I emphasized that generative A.I. is a tool and ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
3M ago
Another week, another article on American economic exceptionalism. In the Weekend Financial Times (subscription required) statistician John Burn-Murdoch highlights two sides to the American dream — extreme wealth coexisting with extreme poverty. Core beliefs are involved. Data show that Americans see themselves as more upwardly mobile than people from other western countries (in reality the ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
4M ago
A not-so-surprising report in the New York Times highlights the fact that America spends more per capita than any other country on the planet on health care, for worse outcomes. According to these statistics, my peers born in 1952 have just over seven years left to enjoy life in the US of A. What kind ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
5M ago
Since I’ve retired from my career as a speechwriter (moving on to an all-encompassing passion for kombucha!) it’s exciting to discover a new generation of speechwriters is now podcasting about this profession. Check out Felicity Barber’s new podcast series The Friendly Ghost. In her first episode she introduces Chandler Dean and Sarah Gruen of West ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
6M ago
Alerted by a review in The Oldie magazine that I’d picked up in Manchester airport before flying home this week, I ordered a copy of A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder by Mark O’Connell. I read it in two long sittings. Irish front-page news, 1982 I was unaware of the ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
7M ago
The four-volume, 1,693 pages of Elena Ferrante’s masterpiece chronicles the childhood through to late adulthood of two women born in a poor quarter of Naples, Italy. The novels progress from My Brilliant Friend (Childhood, Adolescence); The Story of a New Name (Youth); Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (Middle age); to The Story of ..read more
Professionally Speaking Blog
9M ago
This is the third and final part of the series of posts advocating how speechwriters can use generative A.I. A division exists in the speechwriting profession between those well-paid speechwriters in the corporate world and political speechwriters. Political speechwriters often write for a person and cause they believe in. The single best book on political ..read more