by Frank Schnittger
Sat Mar 8th, 2025 at 09:17:25 AM EST
In a former life I was, for my sins, a speech writer and video producer for three successive Managing Directors of Guinness, later to become Diageo. The job was to promote the brand, to burnish the image of the gentlemen in question, to thank a lot of people, and to have something to say of relevance to the intended audience. In other words, to connect with the audience.
Not to hector, lecture, demean, mislead, or miss-sell what the company was about, but to tell a story the audience could relate to. Not necessarily the whole story, but an interesting story, nevertheless. A little flattery never went amiss, but you never included any falsehoods or outright lies.
A word salad of obfuscation was a no no. People can see through that sort of thing, and it angers them, because they think you take them for fools. "Whatever you say, say nothin'" was not my motto. It was better to remain silent when you had nothing positive to say. Even one negative message could get people's backs up and obscure the rest of your message, even if it was 99% positive. They would obsess about that and not even listen to what else you had to say. You could become the enemy in a sentence.
A little humour at your own expense was a necessary ingredient, lest you be seen to deem yourself too important, or take yourself too seriously. Add an amusing anecdote to make it seem personal. Humility sells well, especially if you are representing a dominant company in the marketplace. But never make a joke at somebody else's expense, even if they are a competitor, unless it is to a private audience of your own people. In public, you show respect, even if you find it difficult to do so. Any arguments are held in private lest egos get in the way, and it becomes a cock-fight instead of a problem solving session.
I am not trying to make the case that I was necessarily very good at the job. I had no formal training and learned very much by my mistakes. Public relations was not my speciality. I had a Masters in Peace Studies, but it was fair to say I was better at provoking arguments than ending them. There are also technical aspects of the craft I found difficult to master. For, instance, I had a penchant for including long convoluted sentences with far too many qualifications or sub clauses. Try to keep it simple and direct. Break it down into its component parts and take your time over it if the subject matter is important but unavoidably complex.
On one infamous occasion I included one particularly long, complex sentence which was a bit of a tongue twister. It was a piece to camera and the Managing Director was determined to get it right. Time and again he stumbled over that sentence, and we had to do another take, often from several paragraphs back to get him into the rhythm. I offered to re-write that part of the script several times, but he wouldn't let it defeat him. We had been working on the video for hours and it was getting close to midnight. The camera crew were staring daggers at me. I think the very experienced MD wasn't going to let some jumped up junior advisor defeat him. He eventually got it right and we could all go home.
These memories come back to me thinking about the very unenviable task some poor soul(s) in the Department of Foreign Affairs have trying to craft the speeches an Taoiseach and his ministers have to give to various audiences on their tour through the Irish American heartland and Washington itself. Each speech has to be tailored to the audience, make reference to some events or people they hold dear, and impart a simple message they can remember and take home with them.
You also have to take care to be clear what sentence the media are likely to highlight in their headlines. One inappropriate sentence and your whole message could be lost. You can, very helpfully, provide the media with a precis that saves them the bother of writing one, but an unsympathetic observer will trawl through your speech to find a sentence they can hang you by.
Beware the sharks when swimming in shark infested waters. There will be many who do not like (say) your policy on Palestine and try to brand you a terrorist sympathiser. Some won't like your policy on corporate taxation and want to brand you a tax cheat. Others won't like the fact that many US multinationals have located their intellectual property in Ireland even though it might have originated in California and brand you a property thief. Many may feel you are benefitting from the USA's security umbrella while not paying for it and brand you a security free-loader. Don't give them a sentence they can use to make that connection. Every word you use will be parsed and mined for some inference you may never have intended. The fact that your whole speech is ignored bar that one misconstrued sentence is immaterial. The PR battle has been lost.
Even if you are a sympathetic member of an audience, ask yourself, after listening to a speech, what bits you remember. It's usually something that relates to you personally or some issue you hold dear. The rest is just waffle as far as you are concerned, although it may be very meaningful to someone else in the audience. But people rarely remember more than three or four key points that are of particular relevance to them.
So, the first questions any speech writer has to ask themselves is who the intended or likely audiences are and what are the three or four messages (max) you want them to take from your speech. That gets very complicated if your speech is being televised or could end up on the internet. It's not as if you are only addressing one audience. At this point the speech writer has to seek a brief from his principle or sponsor and ask: what are the key messages you want to send, and to whom?
In the case of An Taoiseach visiting the White House, and giving speeches afterwards, the brief could look something like this:
Key Audiences: (You cannot be everything to everyone)
- The Trump administration, and particularly Trump himself
- The US business community, and particularly those with Irish connections
- Irish America, insofar as it can still be said to exist
- The plain people of America (being a plain man yourself)
- How will the speech be received in Tel Aviv, Europe, and at home?
Key images you want to project: (which must be credible and authentic)
- A reasonable, soft spoken man, who is no threat to anyone
- Who wants to do his best for his country and for the people of America
- Interested in doing business, and with something of value to offer
- Is very sympathetic and empathetic - someone you would like to have dinner with
- Someone you would be proud to have representing yourself, your business, or your country
What you have to show: (demonstrate not claim)
- What's in it for the Trump administration
- What's in it for the American business community
- What's in it for the plain people of America
- Why the world should listen.
Key messages: (what you want people to remember)
- Ireland is open for business, and has been very good for American businesses, helping them achieve a dominant foothold in Ireland and Europe. Ireland's trade surplus in goods is more than counterbalanced by our trade deficit in services with the USA, meaning the USA is the net beneficiary.
- Ireland is a low tax location, which means that most of the money American businesses make around the world ends up going back to the USA
- Ireland shares a history with America of being a colony ruled from abroad, which means we are very sympathetic to the underdog, and have a bit of a rebel spirit
- Ireland is interested in peaceful co-existence and international cooperation, and is happy to make our unique contribution to helping make that happen throughout the world
You get the gist. If you want the full speech, a tariff free consultancy fee might apply!
