Speechwriting tips from Joel Deane – part 1 of 2

If you’re reading this blog you either want to or are thinking about walking that pathway to politics and standing for public office.

That’s great.

Now comes the hard part: convincing people to support you.

All of which brings me to the dreaded ‘stump speech’.

Every candidate is told they need one. But what exactly is a stump speech?

Think of it as the political version of an elevator pitch.

Basically, it’s what you’re going to tell people to convince them to back you.

You might deliver a formal version of your stump speech during a preselection contest within a political party – or at a candidates’ forum as part of an election campaign.

Or you might deliver a sawn-off, informal version of your stump speech when you’re meeting people outside the local supermarket, or doorknocking, or cold calling locals on an electorate, or being interviewed by a journalist.

A good stump speech is portable and adaptable.

It can be shortened or lengthened. It can be structurally changed – told in part or back-to-front or sideways. And it can be laterally connected to the broader issues (from schools to hospitals to jobs to housing) that voters care about.

In short, it’s a piece of you.

Here are five things to consider before you write your stump speech.

1. A Speech Is A Conversation

Politics is like football. It’s played differently in different parts of the world.

Take Australian democracy.

Here, voting is compulsory. That means voters are often annoyed when they cast their ballots.

Not only that, Australian voting is preferential. That means those often-annoyed voters usually choose the candidate they hate the least rather than the person they love the most (as occurs in first-past-the-post voting).

You need to sound like yourself. An amplified, clarified version of yourself that explains who you are, where you come from, how you got here, what you want to do and – most importantly – why that person listening should care about what you care about.

Think of it this way: You’re trying to start a conversation with a roomful of strangers.

2. You’re Telling a Story

Political people talk a lot about ‘narrative’, but that’s just a 50 cent word for ‘story’.

And what is a story?

Past. Present. Future.

Who we are (present), how we got here (past), and where we are going or need to go (future).

In other words, your speech needs to tell a story that connects with the personal and collective lives of people listening.

3. It’s All in the Delivery

Think of your speech like a movie script.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s brilliant on the page. What matters is whether you can deliver the speech on the stage and connect with people.

I’m not saying that the speech draft doesn’t matter (after all, I’m a speechwriter).

What I am saying is that the purpose of a speech draft is to give the speech maker the confidence they need to stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and perform.

And, just to be clear, when I say ‘perform’ I’m not talking about acting a role: I mean being your best self.

4. This is About You

‘Authenticity’ is another of those buzz words thrown around by political people.

That’s another 50 cent word for ‘be yourself’.

Don’t jazz up your lingo. Don’t raid the Thesaurus. Don’t try to sound like Gough Whitlam. Or John Howard. Or Julia Gillard. Or Maggie Thatcher. Or whoever you wish you were.

This process is about getting down to the nitty gritty of who you are.

It’s about thinking about the one thing you want the person or people to know about and care about and saying that one thing.

5. This is Not About You

Okay.

You’ve thought long and hard about the who, where, what, how, and why of your candidacy.

You have someone in mind and you know the right words and the right way to say those words.

You’re telling your story. You’re speaking in plain language. You’re being your best self. You’re not pretending to be anyone else or putting on an act.

That’s great.

But, remember, this speech is not about you.

The purpose of doing all of this work to get to the heart of the matter about who you are is so that you have the understanding and the authenticity necessary to go out and connect with voters – convincing them you’re the person who best represents their interests.

With that in mind, look for ways to make lateral connections between the personal story you’re telling and the shared story people are living.

If you can make that kind of connection you can make people listen to – and maybe care about – the causes your fighting for.

Now, when you’re ready, read my 10 tips for writing.

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