The one thing that I hate most about my job is writing speeches for other people.
It just feels so dishonest.
It ought to be illegal.
Presidents, especially, should be required to write their own speeches. I want to hear the thoughts of the guy or Woman that I voted for, not someone else, not some professional ghost.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Speech writing
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8 comments:
I’m with you. People should ideally write their own speeches. If they don’t, it is just dishonest in a way.
In hip hop, it is a facet of the culture that you should write the songs that you sing. The “keep it real” mantra is present in almost every aspect of the culture. To keep it real simply means that you are staying honest to yourself, that you are the one creating and performing your art.
Speaking of art, remember when politicians used to speak with intelligence and purpose. Their speeches used to be literary and powerful. The current president sounds uneducated in comparison. I shouldn’t just pick on him though. Speeches in general seem to have lost that polish. At least that is what I have noticed.
I didn't know that about hip hop. I like the concept of that, very much.
You know whenever I hear a politician speak I only listen for the content, I never clap or cheer as others do because that speaker's speech was written by someone else perhaps far more intelligent. The speaker is just there, reciting. I look for how passionate and in tune he/she is with what they are saying and if not...I walk.
But, Empress, if the politician is a good actor, then they can fake that passion and sense of tuning just as they fake having written the script -- er, speech.
You raise a valid point. Unfortunately, most of the people we elect to public office are incapable of writing decent prose, which perhaps says a lot about our system.
They are also not required to keep any of their campaign promises, so they're free to offer us the moon, as it were, in someone else's clever words.
Do you write speeches for someone most of us would know?
Nope, just for a school official in my city. Thankfully, it's a very minor part of what is mostly a very satisfying job.
Oh eastcoastdweller, he/she might be a good actor and may have my attention until the very last scripted word is spoken but then the most entertaining part is the question/answer period. I don't know why but I take great pleasure in seeing politicians sweat when they're asked questions they may not be prepared for! Take for example my country's PM, he practically boycotted the media on asking questions that he was not given in advance - I have no respect for that.
Truly Amarpreet, I see why You aspire to be Empress. You are wise, indeed. The Q & A session is in fact the true measure of a politician's cognitive abilities -- and it is what we should remember, not some ghost-writer's speech.
This I should have thought about before, but I will pay it much closer attention in future.
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