Writing a speech that isn’t just an enumeration of facts, but interesting, informative and gripping, is hard work – mostly because it is so different from what all of us usually have to deal with. 

 

Writing a speech requires you to follow principles completely outside the usual writing conventions.

 

Public speaking exists in that nebulous space between the written and spoken word, combining elements of both.

 

It is meant to be listened to - not merely read out loud.

 

Special attention has to be given to the structure and the connections between its disparate parts - as with any document - but when you deliver a speech, your audience cannot glance back half a page to check something that came before.

 

My job is to make such glances unnecessary.