Spoken like a President

Spoken like a President

Archived in the category: General musings, Write words

Nice to see that Barack Obama - lauded as the most powerful public speaker in American politics for a generation - has been using some of our favourite writing tips in his speeches.

Remember three’s company, where we talked about grouping your points into three to create more impact? Well they don’t get much more power full than these three:
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy - tonight is your answer.”

They are the opening lines of his victory speech in the November presidential election - widely regarded as one of the finest speeches in modern US politics.

Here’s another bit:
“It’s been a long time coming, but today, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.” And just to show he’s not a one-trick pony, he uses another technique to great effect, the power of pairs. This is a favourite politicians’ trick of not saying one thing if you can equally say two, adding emphasis to the message.

So he says, “people who waited three hours and four hours…”, instead of saying the less powerful, ’people who waited hours…’

There’s also a lesson there about being specific. By specifying three hours and four hours, rather than a vague ‘hours’, it resonates more strongly with the audience and the impact is that much greater.

Let’s hope his policies are as effective as his speeches…

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Copy Writing Agency Wordsworks has a New Writer

Wordsworks Has a New Writer

Copy-writing agency Wordsworks has taken on a new writer following a busy summer, bringing its team up to four.

Stockport-based Wordsworks has employed Catherine Dolman as a copywriter to help look after the company’s growing client list. Catherine is a former freelance copywriter and has spent the last four months writing the content for the NUS’ new website.

Said Catherine, “it’s a great opportunity for me to apply my skills and experience as a freelance copywriter to a wide range of clients. I’m looking forward to helping firms in different sectors communicate their message in the clearest, most engaging way possible.”

Wordsworks is a specialist copy writing consultancy, with a particular focus on copywriting for the professional services, environmental and larger corporate sectors.

It was set up by journalist Gareth Chadwick in 2003 to provide outsourced copywriting and copy-editing services to businesses. Typical projects include copywriting for firm brochures, web sites, case studies, recruitment brochures, client newsletters, reports, and in-house magazines.
Explained Gareth: “companies need to communicate their expertise and their brand in a way that reinforces their credibility, not detracts from it. So much written material is badly written and poorly presented. It’s not so bad it goes straight into the bin, but it’s the missed opportunity that it represents.”

Wordsworks’ copywriting client list includes KPMG, Savills plc, Baker & McKenzie, JP Morgan, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, 3i corporate finance, Addleshaw Goddard, The College of Law, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, Ince & Co, Cobbetts and TLT Solicitors.

Prior to setting up Wordsworks, Gareth was a journalist specialising in small business and professional services. His credits include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Manchester Evening News and Growing Business magazine.

For further information, please contact:
Gareth Chadwick
Wordsworks
Tel: 0161 443 4135
Email: gareth.chadwick@wordsworks.co.uk
http://www.wordsworks.co.uk/

January's 'Word of the Month' - Spoken like a President Article