The Speechwriters Conference

I've just returned from my annual trip to the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Ave. in Washington, D.C. for the national Speechwriters Conference. Every February speechwriters from business, government and academe gather for two days of networking and learning at this conference put on by Ragan Communications. This year, one of the stars was the closing day Keynoter, Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain. Westen, a professor of psychology at Emory University, gave a fascinating speech on the importance of emotional intelligence for political campaigns.

His insights on the use of words and images to strike emotional and persuasive chords in the hearts of an audience are valuable for speakers beyond the political sphere.

Other great takeaways for me were provided by Wendy Cherwensky, a free-lance writer from Ottawa. Wendy's seminar contained many valuable tips but the strongest takeaway for me was her recommendation of Garr Reynolds' great new book PresentationZen. This book and the excellent blog that he maintains with the same title - http://www.presentationzen.com/.

Both are briming with great ideas for simplifying your visuals and strengthening your PowerPoint presentations. The blog also features many links to speakers who make good use of the principles that Reynolds (and yours truly) espouse. One of my favorite discoveries from this site was the annual Technology, Entertainment and Design conference, TED, held in Monterey, California. It's an amazing conference with speakers from all disciplines, limited to less than 20 minutes to present their ideas. Check it out!