The pros at last week's Ragan Speechwriter & Executive Communicators conference gave away buckets of trade secrets - maybe even a few more than they realized. Over two days at American University in D.C., about 250 of my closest friends and I immersed ourselves in panels and presentations on the techniques, tactics and strategies of effective communicators - how to be one and how to serve one.
After spending some seriously delightful quality time with my colleagues, I brought home three key insights on what it takes to be a successful speechwriter or executive communicator:
- What kind of person you need to be
- What you need to do
- What (and who) can help you
Let's take these one post at a time. This week: What kind of person do you need to be?
If folks like Grant Neely, Pete Weissman and Fletcher Dean are any indication, a successful speechwriter is open-hearted, kind, proactive and inquistive, with a fairly dry sense of humor. These were just three of the folks who stood out to me for being generous with their insights, anecdotes and advice. Speechwriting is so often a collaborative art and they seemed to have mastered that art – they know that by sharing information with each other, we are not just picking up tips in the moment. We are joyfully planting some mysterious seeds that will sprout at the strangest, most opportune times. The fertile ground of a conference like this one is the perfect garden to do some of that creative, spontaneous planting.
Stay open, stay eager. And while you're at it - stay hungry, stay foolish (thanks, Steve Jobs). And, of course, stay tuned for more speechwriting secrets from the Ragan conference. But remember, you didn't hear it from me.
Allie --
this is good and whets my appetite for more...can't wait.
Cindy
Posted by: Cindy Starks | March 14, 2011 at 08:26 AM
Agree with you ! I was there and it was a terrific conference .....
Posted by: Irene Maslowski | March 14, 2011 at 08:29 AM