70. Lessons from Obama’s Speechwriter (Terry Szuplat)

In this episode of the Ideas on Stage podcast we spoke with Terry Szuplat. Terry Szuplat is a sought-after speaker and trainer and the author of the national bestseller Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience in which he shares the public speaking lessons he learned as one of President Barack Obama's longest-serving White House speechwriters. From 2009 to 2017, Terry served as a special assistant to the president and as a member of the National Security Council staff, and from 2013 to 2017 he was the deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office. Today, Terry runs his own speechwriting firm, Global Voices Communications, and he teaches speechwriting at his alma mater, American University's School of Public Affairs. He lives outside Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children. In this episode, we talked about the lessons Terry Szuplat learned as Obama’s speechwriter. What You'll Learn:- Obama’s approach to speaking - How to make your message stick - How to balance facts with storytelling- How to engage your audience from the start- How to leave your audience with hope and a clear takeawayIn This Episode:00:00 - Introduction10:23 - The 50-25-25 Rule 13:26 - Body Language16:39 - 10 Words19:43 - On Writing Your Speech 23:26 - Say Hello 26:21 - Tell the story of a single person 31:06 - Why Data Doesn’t Change Minds35:15 - Jargon Is Killing Your Message38:31 - Cut 15% 42:21 - Your ‘Why’48:53 - The Only Way to Judge a Speech50:36 - End with Hope 56:39 - Tell the truth 01:02:43 - Public Speaking Is a Learnable SkillWe hope you enjoy it! ———————Terry Szuplat: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-szuplat-456914137/ - Website: https://globalvoicescommunications.com/ Mentions: - Book: On Speaking Well by Peggy Noonan - Greetings from the President: Hola, Alo, Namaste! https://youtu.be/z6q5nWJkxz0?si=0IP-m0xzmTFcTbwQ- Patagonia – Don’t Buy This Jacket: https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html———————IDEAS ON STAGE RESOURCES - Books: ‘Confident Presenter’ – free copy (https://bit.ly/confident-presenter-free) and ‘Business Presentation Revolution’ (ideasonstage.com/business-presentation-revolution/book/)- The Confident Presenter Scorecard: https://ideasonstage.com/score  - Free Web Class: https://www.ideasonstage.com/uk/events/   - Free Mini-Course: https://bit.ly/confident-presenter-mini-course  #IdeasOnStagePodcast #PublicSpeaking #Speechwriting #Obama