Political speechwriters need to create write speeches for their candidates with great care and attention. Sometimes a speech can be a persuasive argument about a political campaign. The speechwriter needs to ensure the speech is written strategically so that the targeted audience is convinced.
Roger Wolfson – Steps to creating a strategic political speech
Roger Wolfson is an eminent speechwriter from Los Angeles in the USA and has worked as counsel and a speechwriter for US Senators like Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, Joe Liebermann, and John Kerry. He is also a TV writer, an activist for animal rights, and a scriptwriter. He says that when it comes to political speeches, you should keep in mind the following steps in order to make your speech persuasive –
- Attention- This is the part where the attention of the audience is drawn. In a political speech, you need to thank the audience and some people first. This part of the speech should always be short. The key part of any political speech is to engage listeners. You can use a personal anecdote to grab attention as it permits you to connect with your audience in such a way that they settle in naturally with the speech.
- Understanding the need- This is the second step of the speech that is offered referred to as the problem step. This is where the argument starts, and this step might even point out that the elected candidate is not doing his job correctly. In this component of the speech, you must invite your audience to question the present situation.
- Satisfaction- This part of the speech gives you the solution to the problem that is being discussed. Here, the anxieties of the audience are alleviated, and this makes the lives better. You should also highlight your plans so that the local economy is promoted.
- Visualizing- This step is similar to the satisfaction point where the solutions are given to the audience. Here, the political candidate needs to invite the audience to actually visualize the future with the problem solved if the person is elected. You need to give the audience a clear picture of what the audience can expect from you.
- Action- Here, this is the part where the speaker invokes the audience to take action steps towards solving the problem. This action step can have the speaker asking the audience for a contribution to a political campaign or for a vote. These action steps should be simple and defined. This urges them to take the action step fulfilling the purpose of the whole speech.
Roger Wolfson points out to the use of simple and common language. You should not be confined to the rules of grammar. Speechwriters need to create a speech for the ears over the eye. If you do not keep the audience’s needs in mind, the purpose of the speech is defeated. The speech will sound distant and be robotic. While writing the speech, you should keep the common language in mind so that everyone in the audience understands you well.
