CHAPTER 7

Hiring a Speechwriter, Speaker Coach, and Presentation-Skills Trainer

For the same reasons professional athletes use coaches or trainers to reach their potential, so should a speaker. Coaches and presentation-skills trainers—as well as speechwriters—are in the business of building relationships with you and encouraging your professional and personal growth. Hiring a coach, trainer, or speechwriter can help make a good speaker better, and maybe even give you an edge over your competition. The margins are small in this business, so we encourage you to capitalize on every leg up you can get.

Coaches, trainers, and speechwriters offer support in improving your performance, mastering your technique, and jump-starting your career. They will hold you accountable because it’s their job to be honest with you about where you need to improve and they’ll help you overcome any obstacles to your success. They will not only help bolster your strengths and encourage and motivate you, but also offer an objective opinion in ways you can’t or won’t see, such as a business model that makes sense for you or a process you can use in your speech that offers a valuable takeaway for the audience. They’ll help you find your voice and capture your essence, elevating all you do to a full level of performance and productivity. Much like an athletic coach, they offer positivity and inspiration to keep you going strong when you need it the most. And they’ll give you perspective on where you are today and help guide your vision of where you can be tomorrow.

Benefits of Hiring a Speechwriter

It’s smart business to hire a speechwriter. Whether it’s for a speech, workshop, curriculum, or television script, using a speechwriter will take the pressure off you when you’re busy or on the road, and it will also add a fresh perspective to your message. If writing isn’t your strength or if you’re the type of person who sits in front of a blank screen for hours, you can save yourself time by hiring someone who can write well and knows your industry. And there’s no shame in it; it’s a completely acceptable practice! People in all walks of life do it. For example, Anne writes speeches for business executives, politicians, movie stars, TV celebrities and personalities, and published authors and writers. They all share the same desire of wanting to deliver sound subject matter in a professional, authoritative manner; they just need a little help getting the words in their mouths.

Hiring a speechwriter is not taking the easy way out. There is still plenty of work for you to do. You must put forth the time and effort to discuss your ideas with a speechwriter, review and edit drafts with them, rehearse and revise the speech, listen to and follow performance notes, and practice, practice, practice. Being a successful speaker requires you to invest in yourself and at times that means bringing in the pros to help.

Speechwriting Is No Ordinary Assignment

Your ideal speechwriter will help you achieve your objectives and help you walk onstage like a seasoned professional, whether it’s your fifth or 50th presentation. The following list can help you figure out what qualities to look for in your speechwriter:

• gives direction and suggestions in a kind but effective way

• open to your suggestions

• looking to make you shine

• easy to talk to

• personable

• uses words that you usually use

• has a reputation and references for speech writing

• is a credible, published writer with a great team behind them.

Above all, you want to make sure your speechwriter captures your unique essence and voice. For instance, when Anne writes a speech for a speaker, she interviews that person during several intake phone calls to get to know that person’s mannerisms and characteristics. She reviews the speaker’s videos; reads their blogs, books, and articles; and will often talk to their spouse, children, and even best friends to get to know the speaker and what makes them tick. You want your speechwriter to get to know you better so they can write in your style and voice. Use your intake call to get to know one another and begin to develop a lasting working relationship.

Expect your speechwriter to ask some questions like these during an intake call:

• How did you get started?

• What moved you to write a book?

• What is the core story in your speech?

Speechwriters want to learn all about you and what motivates you to speak. Some people have had horrible accidents; some were abused by a spouse or someone close to them; others, like doctors, have witnessed death and dying; and yet others, like lawyers, have seen businesses go bankrupt. Before your intake call is good time to revisit your answers to the “So You Want to Be a Professional Speaker and Trainer?” assessment from the introduction, particularly those questions concerning your motivation and past experiences. Everyone’s story comes from a place in their heart, and many speakers desire to help others solve their problems, connect with people, and be helpful. Sometimes you just don’t know how to be memorable, and that’s the speechwriter’s gift to you: something that sticks.

It will likely take a few drafts to refine your speech; seldom will a writer perfect a draft on the first try. As with any writing process, there should be revisions and back-and-forth with your writer. Expect your writer to produce up to three drafts. Anything more than that will probably cost you more than your original agreement with the writer.

If you have difficulty providing constructive feedback, lack the confidence to question the “expert,” or are intimidated to ask for changes, practice speaking up for yourself and do not be timid about asking for changes—respectfully, of course. Think of speechwriting as a dance. It’s OK to take the lead on points you feel strongly about or to disagree with something. After all, you know you best and you’ll ultimately be the one delivering the speech. It must fit you. It’s your speechwriter’s job to capture your magic and put it into your speech, but it’s your job to communicate that magic to your speechwriter.

Drafts typically include stage direction like movement or gestures, purposeful pauses for effect, a little humor if that’s your thing, copy that engages your audience, and a solid, memorable close. For her clients, Anne writes directions for physical movements into the speech for the speaker to follow: “Marianna, start walking straight across the stage, pause for a brief moment, look down, look at your audience, hold your arm up high and say [fill in the blank].” She also adds in interactive moments with the audience, like having the speaker take selfies with the audience in the background to use for social media posts and tweets.

Your speech must be written in words that you normally use; you don’t want to come off sounding pretentious or awkward. And most important, your speech also should contain your wow factor because it’s your secret ingredient that sets you apart from the crowd.

Your speechwriter should practice with you in sessions called table reads, either in-person or via videoconference. Then your speechwriter will refine the draft based on your comments during the first read. Then you’ll do another table read, followed by more revisions until you feel confident in the final product. Anne uses this tried-and-true process of writing, reading, and revising to create speeches that are perfect fits for her speaker clients. In the time in between table reads, practice in front of a mirror, your family, or even your pet! It’s also helpful to take a video of yourself with your smartphone and review your own performance.

A really good writer will review the final draft with you over the phone, via videoconference, or better yet, in person. Anne offers her clients the option of going to their location to coach them on their delivery in person or having them do their final reviews in her office at the beach. You should expect to work with your speechwriter on the final draft of your speech and delivery for about a day to a day and a half. By the time of your final review, you should have your delivery pretty much down. Your speechwriter will help you fine-tune elements of your delivery and help you feel comfortable with the content. Writers who offer assistance at this level will charge a fee in addition to some expenses, but speakers often find that the value of these services pays for itself and then some after just one booking. The return on your investment in yourself far outweighs any initial expenses you will incur from hiring a speechwriter.

Speechwriters will charge you for writing your speech and the time they use researching; they may also charge you for other expenses like one-on-one, in-person coaching on your delivery technique. Make your investment count! You want your speechwriter to understand who you are and what you stand for, and write a speech so memorable and moving that people will be clamoring to book you for their next keynote. And most important, you want this person to be someone you can build a solid, enjoyable working relationship with.

Coaching for the Rigors of Your Craft

Aspiring speakers need coaches and trainers, but believe it or not, experienced speakers need them more. These professionals help speakers hone their performance and offer motivation; they help the pros condition themselves. Speakers need direction just like any other professional talent does.

A good speaker coach will help you develop your stories, pitch you to different media outlets or publicists if they have connections, help you hire a publicist, give you advice, and talk you off the ledge when you are really feeling the pressure. Your presentation-skills trainer will help you refine your presentations and delivery. Both coaches and trainers are committed to giving you honest feedback to help you be your best speaker self. Regardless of where you are in your career, you will benefit from the genuine feedback they supply. Using that feedback to polish and further develop your presentation is what will separate you from the pack.

Coaching and training is a very labor-intensive business. Consequently, coaches and trainers are very selective about whom they work with. They look for clients with maturity, emotional stability, support from their family, content-rich messages, a willingness to trust, and a drive to do more, be more, and earn more. However, a dedicated coach or trainer will become your number 1 fan, and will be there for you when you need them most (usually at no extra cost to you). Some trainers will even fly to cities at their own expense to sit in the front row to support you or help you move tables and chairs or sell books. Anne recently traveled to St. Louis to lend moral support to a client during a TEDx conference. This kind of relationship doesn’t come overnight. It is nurtured through time. And like Anne says, “I just really care about those I coach and want to show them I’m in their cheering gallery all the way. To me, showing up, front row center, is part of it.”

Coaches and trainers accept clients at all stages of their careers. Anne, for instance, coaches speakers who are somewhat established in their careers and are ready to jump to the next level of higher earning potential.

You must to be open to being taught, because your coach or trainer is going to give it to you straight. Check your ego at the door, don’t be defensive, be willing to receive feedback and use it to your advantage, and remember that you hired a professional to help you excel as a professional speaker. Table 7-1 will help you decide when you’re ready to seek out professional coaching or training. You’re looking for mostly “often” answers.

Table 7-1. Are You Ready for Coaching or Training?

Compensation for Coaches and Trainers

On the outset, you’ll pay your coach or trainer for their services. Many coaches and trainers offer sessions of one to three days, depending on the program content, speech, what’s at risk, upcoming events, deadlines, and so forth. Pricing varies based on your coach’s or trainer’s time. You should always be quoted fair and equitable fees based on the value (professionally and personally) of what you will receive from your coaching professional. Sometimes a coach or trainer may quote flat fees, and other times may quote a lower flat fee plus a percentage of your future earnings. You want to look for a fair fee structure that aligns with the work your coach or trainer does.

What you get in return for investing in yourself is increased earnings from future work and other products you sell. Coaches and trainers are there to help you realize your maximum earning potential—some coaches we interviewed have helped their clients earn up to six figures a year and way beyond. Another way coaches and trainers may help you increase your earning potential is to show you how to sell or license your training programs or e-learning modules. They can also help you publish books and earn royalties from a publisher or self-publish and profit directly from books sold at your events.

Speakers are no different from other professionals and performers—they need coaching. The more successful you become, the more you should rely on your coach or trainer for guidance. Hiring key people to help refine your speeches and delivery is wise because one person can only do so much alone. You can be a lone hamster on a wheel trying to get ahead by repeating the same thing again and again, or you can become an in-demand earner with the help of your team. Coaches, speechwriters, and skills trainers are your backstage team who will help you shine and become the best speaker you can be. Behaving like a diva or primadonna will garner you a reputation for being difficult to work with and hurt your ability to get the good gigs. Work hard, follow the plan, keep an open mind, and heed the good advice of your team. It’s all in the collaboration and relationship building because no one can find success at a high level all by themselves.