How giving speeches can make you a better speechwriter

I arrived at the conference a little late. Everyone had their coffees, and most of them were already at the tables, chatting amiably with old friends. The only seats available were right in front or way in the back.

I figured, why would I come all the way to a speechwriters’ conference in Washington, DC, only to sit in the back of the room? So I took a seat at the front table, next to a lady in a royal blue suit, who promptly introduced herself as Patricia Fripp. She immediately struck up a conversation, and her friendly manner, smile, and enthusiasm immediately charmed me. 

Over the rest of the day, in between the speakers and panels, Patricia regaled me with stories of her life in public speaking, advice on my work, and tips on how to start and end a speech.

Somewhere in there, I heard her say, “You should come give a speech to my organization, the Golden Gate Breakfast Club.” 

So that’s how, in April, I found myself giving the very last speech in this almost 80-year-old organization’s history.

I was nervous about being the organization’s final act. They hadn’t planned to end their eighth decade with me; it was just a coincidence of timing. Still, I felt like a lot was riding on me not blowing it. I wanted to send them off on a high note, so I did my best to share some of the most fascinating and relevant stories from my career as a journalist. 

For example, I told the true story of a clock, buried deep inside a mountain in West Texas, that has been built to keep accurate time for the next 10,000 years. (Never needs winding!)

I got to interview the person funding this clock, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He’s not doing it because he wants to one-up his Patek Philippe-wearing friends. In fact, Bezos has spent his life urging people to adopt long-term thinking, starting with his very first shareholder letter. Why build a clock that will run for 10,000 years? To get people focused on long-term thinking, he told me.

Yet his fortune is built on instant gratification: satisfying people’s whims for consumer products in an ever-shorter timeframe, including, now, same-day delivery.

So, which is it, Jeff? Should we be focused on instant gratification or long-term thinking?

You see the same tension in many other tech billionaires: Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and many others. Long-term thinking has helped them win massive fortunes, but their businesses are built on encouraging the consumers of their products to embrace short-term gratification — even on getting people addicted to it. 

How we respond to these contradictory directives will determine our future, I argued.

When my talk was over, the audience's reaction blew me away: They were kind, curious, attentive, and full of praise. And they asked a ton of questions.

Patricia kindly wrote later to say, “Your presentation at the GGBC was simply magnificent. As you know, our members are an impressive collection of accomplished professionals—no strangers to exceptional speakers. Your reputation preceded you, and their expectations were high. You didn’t just meet them… you exceeded them. The number of thoughtful questions that followed said it all.”

Speechwriting and speechmaking

Although I’ve done plenty of speeches and media appearances in my time, I’ve been out of the limelight for most of the past decade. Instead, I’ve been writing speeches and ghostwriting thought leadership pieces for others. 

I’m a member of the Professional Speechwriters’ Association and a proud graduate of the PSA’s Speechwriting School. The speeches and talk tracks I’ve written over the past few years have been delivered by CEOs onstage as keynotes, used as the voiceover for an IPO roadshow video (the stock closed up 35% on the first day), and featured in the promo video for one of the biggest initial coin offerings in history. I’ve helped script talking points and talk tracks for execs speaking at conferences in a wide range of industries.

But I hadn’t been onstage very much since I left WIRED and VentureBeat. 

That’s changed since at start of this year. I’ve now given at least one workshop or talk every month so far in 2025. And coming up in June, I’ll be doing a webinar with PR publication O’Dwyers to talk about the results of a survey of content professionals that I collaborated on with Researchscape International. Here’s the link to register for that:

(It's happening on June 5, 2025, at 11am Pacific time, on Zoom, and it's free.)

Stepping out from behind the stage this year has been a learning experience, and it’s made me a better speechwriter. I recommend it to other writers! It’s also made me a better speaker. 

It’s revealing when you rehearse your own speech and find yourself wondering, “What the hell was he thinking when he wrote this?” or “Where am I supposed to take a breath in this incredibly long sentence?” I renewed my appreciation for notation that helps me know when to pause or what words to emphasize. 

This year, I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom of always making a printout of the speech on paper, using a big font (14 or 16 points) and an extra-large bottom margin, so I don’t have to tuck my chin to see the last few lines on each page. 

I rediscovered my loathing of the way Google Slides handles speaker notes. I did work out a system for putting speaker notes on my iPad, but I think paper is still easier to work with.

While I am still very much a speechwriter, I realized that I am also, increasingly, a speaker and writing workshop leader. I enjoy this work, and the feedback has been excellent.

So if your event or group wants to learn how to write, communicate, and lead better — and hear some good stories while you’re at it — please get in touch. 

Here are some of the talks and workshops I have given and would love to share with you:

• STORYTELLING FOR INFLUENCE AND IMPACT, aka THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 101: How to craft your story, how to build a thought leadership platform, and how to start a sustainable opinion-writing practice. I gave this talk to more than 150 members of Forbes Councils this year, and they loved it. 
• SECRETS OF GREAT COPYWRITING: How to make your marketing copy more effective and enjoyable. Frameworks that help you craft messages that work. Approaches to writing that make the work more fun (and faster). I gave this workshop to an 80-person marketing team earlier this year, and the feedback was very positive.
• WRITING FOR BUSINESS AND PLEASURE: How to be a more effective (and happier!) writer at work, especially when you’re collaborating with others— whether you’re creating emails, blog posts, marketing collateral, research reports, or anything else.  I gave this workshop for a COOP Careers cohort last year, and they liked it so much they invited me back again in March of this year.
• POWER UP YOUR PITCHES: How to craft your message, build your PR plan, and start to get the media’s attention. How to write better pitches to the media. I’ve given this talk to groups of founders; I’ve also done hands-on workshops with PR agencies to help them improve their craft. I can tailor this talk to your specific needs.
• WRITERS VS. ROBOTS: What works and what doesn’t when using AI for writing; how to make the most of AI (and when to run the other direction); why the future needs human writers, and how you can help humanity prevail. 

I’m just starting to do this kind of work again, so I'd like to ask for your assistance:

Can you help me spread the word?

If you can think of anyone who might be interested in elevating their team's writing, pitching, or thought leadership skills, please pass this message along to them. I’d also welcome any introductions.

Thank you!

Dylan.