For all the fancy new technology mediums we’ve developed over the past century, writing remains the core skill that feeds all other forms of communication. No fast-talking moviemaker, radio personality or flash animation software package can displace writing from its place at the crown of the creative process. Here’s why...
For all the fancy new technology mediums we’ve developed over the past century, writing remains the core skill that feeds all other forms of communication.
Radio advocates and executives will argue the spoken word and sound effects cannot be beat.
Television producers will herald the power of TV and its variety of programming. They will point to how public opinion swung against the Vietnam War when CBS News and other network newscasts turned it into a “living room war.”
Cinematographers will argue there’s nothing more powerful than motion pictures – the sound, color, drama and musical crescendos. Movies are a topic of everyday conversation and a major weekend activity.
Internet advocates will reason that the web is most powerful of all because it’s a convergent medium, bringing together the written and spoken word along with video, audio and computer-generated imagery. The internet offers it all.
Orators will naturally cite great speakers such as Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama and point to examples of how they moved the masses and changed the course of history with their speeches.
True enough. Barack Obama serves as a good example for the validity of my argument. The president always delivers his speeches using teleprompters because he’s reading text. The speech is carefully written before he ever steps to the lectern and is fastidiously adhered to during its delivery. With all due respect to Mr. Obama’s expert delivery and intonations, his skill as an orator would be greatly diminished if not for the word-craft of President Obama and his speechwriters.
We know the same is true of President Reagan, who relied on the speechwriting skills of Peggy Noonan and others to deliver his powerhouse speeches about the Soviet’s “evil empire” and his State of the Union addresses. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t extemporizing at the podium and neither was Winston Churchill during their historic presentations. They carefully penned those speeches, paying strict attention to every word, turn of phrase, transition and the overall structure of the speech. Indeed, Winston Churchill also authored many books and famously said, “History will treat me kindly because I intend to be the one who writes it.”
Churchill knew the written word lasts forever – in its many forms.
Movies – whether classics or duds – begin with the formation of words in the screenwriter’s or director’s mind. A concept takes shape, and then the screenplay must be written. It is the quality of the screenplay that is the chief determinant of the movie’s fate. Grand pyrotechnics and ostentatious special effects may intoxicate the eyes but vast expenditures on highly-produced movies often turn into spectacular failures for lack of a captivating or enriching storyline. Yet simple, well told, low-budget movies often flood the box office with greenbacks.
It was the dazzling concept and story arc of The Matrix that made it one of the favorite sci-fi films of our time, and the lack of story that caused its sequels to disintegrate before our eyes. All special effects and no story made The Matrix sequels sorry follow-ups.
Think of great TV series like All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues and Seinfeld. Their success was driven by quality of the shows’ writers. Good luck getting a decorated actor to agree to a script that doesn’t offer memorable or distinguishing lines and characters. (Okay, I’ll acknowledge that it’s not unusual for a big-name actor to take to a $20 million payday [or should I say bribe?] to act in a movie they know is doomed to be a stinker.) We remember actors for the lines. “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” “Hasta lavista, baby.” “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
Radio personalities Garrison Keillor, Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern weren’t flying by the seat of their pants while the microphone was hot. They were supported by the written word because they wanted to make sure they would be delivering some signature lines during their broadcasts, something memorable that their listeners would share with others. To go on air completely unscripted is to come to work unprepared.
Now we’re in the internet age and between websites, blogs, podcasts, video productions, e-zines and whatnot, more people are doing more writing and reading than ever in history. A recent, albeit unscientific, survey conducted by blogging guru Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad showed that 70 percent of respondents preferred getting their information via text rather than audio or video.
This is not surprising. The printed word has no equal for speed and versatility. Just try skimming or "speed-reading" a podcast or video. Writing fires the imagination while video supplies all the components and leaves nothing to the imagination.
Who would have believed that children would be reading tomes the length of the Harry Potter series? You cannot replicate the intimacy, character development and adventure of storytelling with anything less than the careful considerations of the written word.
Business executives should take note. The written word permeates everything you do, from business plans and sales presentations to marketing campaigns and investor relations. If you buy into the false notion that the written word has been slain by audio, video and a fancy mélange of motion graphics, prepare to write a good eulogy because your business just might be dead.
How to end your speech, William Penn style
The two most important parts of our speech are the start and the finish. But most of us spend a lot more time concentrating on how to open our speech rather than how to end it. That’s a mistake because the end of our speech is our chance to give audience members something to walk away with. One of the people who offered words of wisdom about how to properly end a speech is the great William Penn, a man who gave innumerable speeches during his lifetime. Here’s what William Penn had to say about ending a speech…
Punctuate your public speaking by pausing
One of the common exhortations of speaking coaches is to put a period at the end of each sentence. That is accomplished by briefly pausing at the end of each sentence. Indeed, the pause serves as various punctuation marks, based on its duration. A very brief pause has the effect of a comma, breaking a sentence into its parts or clauses. A longer pause has the effect of a period. A long pause, depending on the context, acts as an exclamation point.
If your company had a personality, what would it be?
Have you ever considered creating a personality for your company? Giving it human characteristics that consumers and business customers can more easily and meaningfully relate to? Let’s boil this down to a simple consideration. If your company was a human being what type of personality would it possess? Here are some examples of companies that have developed personalities, as well as characteristics to consider in developing your own company’s personality…
