Official Blog of Bannon Leadership Consulting Founder Shawn Bannon

Archive for the ‘Speechwriting’ Category

Stealing Style and Substance … Plagiarism or Just Politics?

Tuesday, February 25th, 2020

A lot of comparisons have been made between 2020 presidential hopeful, former North Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former President Barack Obama. Their youth. Questions of whether or not they had the requisite experience to be president. A Washington Post story a few weeks ago took a deep dive into the similarities and the […]

Speechwriting and Public Speaking in the Genes?

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

I’ve written speeches professionally for the better part of the last 15 years. In a career that’s been blessed with tremendous opportunities, I’ve written words that have been spoken by a dozen Fortune 500 CEOs; three U.S. presidential candidates (including one winner); two governors; five U.S. senators; six members of the House of Representatives; four […]

Bannon Communications President Featured in Carnegie Mellon University Newsletter Q&A

Monday, May 10th, 2010

My college years were some of the most enjoyable and most transformative of my life, and I’ve been glad to remain engaged with my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), throughout my career.  During my years working to promote the Pittsburgh region to national and international media, I was always particularly enthusiastic when I had […]

Breaking My Silence Before Tiger Breaks His — Mr. Woods, the Media and Today’s Non-Press Conference

Friday, February 19th, 2010

So, I’d originally planned to not say much publicly about the Tiger Woods story, but the tone of the coverage since word broke that he’d be speaking today has moved me to comment on Tiger’s troubles, the media and what I hope we hear during his remarks this morning.  When the news of Tiger’s infidelity […]

Bannon Communications Featured by Vital Speeches of the Day

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Special thanks to Vital Speeches of the Day, which is currently featuring my article about improving state-of-the-village speeches on its home page. Click here to read the article on the Vital Speeches Web site.

Lackluster State-of-the-Village Speeches Suggest Alarming Decline in Quality of Leadership

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Earlier this month, David Murray, a respected voice in the field of speechwriting and leadership communications, wrote an article for The Huffington Post about the lackluster state of recent “state-of-the-village” speeches.  David is editor of Vital Speeches of the Day and is the former editor of Ragan Communications’ Speechwriters Newsletter.  He probably reads more speeches […]

A PR Pro’s Defense of Sarah Palin’s Palm Reading

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

The political world’s been abuzz this week with pundits on the left and right trying to score points over former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s use of some hand-written notes during a recent question and answer session.  And by “hand-written notes” I mean to say notes that were literally written on the palm of her hand.  Some on […]

Tips for Speechwriters (and Other Communications Professionals): Getting Your Speaker to Deliver the Speech that You’ve Written — Part 5

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

Here’s tip five in my series of tips to help speechwriters frustrated by speakers who abandon the approved script in favor of extemporaneous remarks that, more often than not, seem to miss the mark. Tip 5.     Let your speaker tell his own story. One sure-fire way to craft a speech your client will be able […]

Tips for Speechwriters (and Other Communications Professionals): Getting Your Speaker to Deliver the Speech that You’ve Written — Part 4

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Here’s tip four in my series of five to help speechwriters frustrated by speakers who abandon the approved script in favor of extemporaneous remarks that, more often than not, seem to miss the mark. Tip 4.      Write the way your speaker talks.  And if you can’t do that, keep the language simple. We’d all like […]

Tips for Speechwriters (and Other Communications Professionals): Getting Your Speaker to Deliver the Speech that You’ve Written — Part 3

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Here’s tip three in my series of five to help speechwriters frustrated by speakers who abandon the approved script in favor of extemporaneous remarks that, more often than not, seem to miss the mark. Tip 3.      Keep it short, and give your speaker a cheat sheet. Of course, there will be times when you’re asked […]