SPEECH WRITING

• Before you start writing, please contact the Press Office.

See Organisation chart at Annex 1.

• Writing for the Minister - please see DEL Intranet - Private

Office - 'Guidance for preparing speaking notes for the
Minister’. (See Annex 2, for convenience).
•
"Briefing for Ministerial Engagements
All briefing should be side copied to the Special Adviser at the time of
submission to Private Office. However, if the Minister is speaking at the
event, the Special Adviser wishes to input to the speech material. Hence,
draft speeches should be provided to the Special Adviser as soon as
available. If it would be helpful, the Special Adviser would be happy to
discuss the potential content of a speech before drafting commences."

The Special Adviser is Dr Esmond Birnie who is located in Room 503, and
may be contacted on 028-9025-7767 (or extension 57767) or
[email protected].

• See Annexes 3 and 4 for the presentations used by

Aideen McGinley and Lucy Marten during the Speech
Writing Seminars of 9 and 16 August 2007.

• See Annex 5 for example Speech – written for the

Minister at the EGSA Conference 9 October 2007.

Structure/Planning – All good speeches have a structure – a beginning,

middle and end. Plain English communicates best.

• Stick to the tried and tested format of ‘Tell them what you are going to tell
them – tell them – and then tell them what you’ve told them’.
• Use your knowledge of your audience and their expectations as well as
the occasion, to help you with, not only speech content, but also the
duration and tone.
• Writers block? Jot down in bullet point form and then arrange in logical
sequence, the essential information you want to put out to your audience.
• Set a few clear goals/objectives before you start writing; What is the
purpose of the speech? Think - is your speech intended to eg: educate,
 motivate, inform or perhaps inspire? What do you want your audience to
learn or do? How will your audience benefit from what you have to say?
• Be aware of organisation/Department sensitivities and established
guidelines, key words, themes and messages that may need to be
incorporated.
• Be mindful of any observances that should be made eg: a reference/thank
you/toast to a particular audience section or member.
• Chances are your audience will not be reading your words as you speak;
they cannot go back over something for understanding. If you are unclear
in what you say/mean they cannot re-listen so it helps to explain what your
main point is going to be - your audience will know what to listen for.
• Use short words and plain English. Avoid jargon. Language should never
get in the way of the message.
• Your speech must always be targeted at your audience. If you are familiar
with them then that can be acknowledged and if appropriate built on with
eg: the use of individual/group names – this all helps to keep their
attention on what you are saying. If they are not known to you then you
will need to try all the harder to engage with them from an early stage.
• Bear in mind, if you are addressing eg: an American audience, that some
of our words and terms can differ in meaning.
• Follow style trends of course but be mindful, (especially if writing for
another), of individual style and taste as well as ones standing and role in
a community/organisation/Department.
• Ensure (as appropriate) what you write can be linked back to
Departmental policy.
• Ensure what you write falls in line with Equality laws.

Beginning – Use a strong opening, one that grabs your audience’s attention.

• Say something interesting - put yourself in their shoes – what would grab
your attention? a quote? a question? a joke? (of course remember humour
is not always appropriate), a line from a poem? a well known phrase or
saying? a controversial statement? (careful though if using this option).
• What do you have in common with the audience – interests? age?
business? hobby?
• Know that once you have their undivided attention you will be able slip
quite seamlessly to the ‘middle’ of your speech.

Middle – The main part of your speech. From your opening your audience will
now be aware of who you are (if not before) and what you want to talk to them
about - the subject of your speech.

• The best way to formulate this piece is to set out a series of related points,
each one falling naturally after and building on the one before. This will
 help your speech to flow and assist the listener in following what you are
saying.
• Be aware of your organisation/ Departments key words, themes and
messages and as appropriate, incorporate these into your script.
• Repetition of key words is one way of lodging information into the minds of
your audience. Try using the ‘List of 3’. You will all recall Tony Blair’s
‘education, education, education’.
• Avoid overload. Consider the level of detail you need to go into. Note – if
you must go into a lot of detail consider whether this could best be
delivered by way of a handout which you can then mention and distribute
after you have finished speaking. Depending on your subject you may
want to consider a handout anyway as a good way of adding value and
extra detail.
• If your speech is long it’s worth reminding your audience of the main
points through eg buzz words or key terms. Do not be tempted to repeat
whole paragraphs. Repetition of key words should be enough to help your
audience absorb the information.
• If it can be avoided try not to use too many eg legal terms/statistics/
quotations/specialist language, as this may leave your subject overly and
unnecessarily complicated.
• Avoid jargon. Be careful of using catchphrases that soon become stale
and out of fashion. Do not use discriminatory language.
• Listeners may have trouble remembering what eg: ‘it’, ‘they’ or ‘that’ refers
to so, where possible, use key nouns instead of unclear pronouns.
• Delivery method can be dictated by the subject – think about using the
rhetorical strategies of ethos (culture, shared traits), pathos (arousing
sympathy/feelings of pity) and logical argument to help persuade/influence
your audience, (using only the most striking factual material to support
your thinking; information that you feel will stick in their minds long after
you have finished speaking). Remember 1) be careful of information
overload 2) if using statistics do not use too many 3) think about using a
handout.
• Allow your personality to come through. If writing for someone else think of
their eg: personality/standing and do not use words that they would not
use. Think from the other person’s perspective and write in a way that
realistically reflects them.

End - on a high note – always bearing in mind what is appropriate, (NB: know
your subject and your audience).
• Use it to summarise the main points without labouring them to death.
• The end should contain some of your strongest material, leaving your
audience wanting more and perhaps with some food for thought.
• If your speech is a call to action then make sure any action you
recommend is realistic, reasonable and specific.
Whether you are delivering the speech yourself or writing it for another.
• It helps to read it aloud - as if you were reading to your audience. Doing
this will help you with the flow; It will allow you to time the speech – you
don’t want it to be too long – your audience will likely turn off!!
You will ‘hear’ the sentences that are too long - you do need to breathe!!
You will also hear all those tongue twisters and trippers that you don’t
recognise when you are reading into yourself.
• Think – Is this information clear enough? Did I stay within my allotted
time? Is that too repetitive? Is that piece a bit boring? What could I do here
to ensure I hold my audience’s interest?
• Go through your script as you read aloud, marking/underlining/bolding up
the words/phrases that you want to put more emphasis on or noting the
way you want them to sound. Do you want to be more forceful in a
particular area? Do you want to thank some one person/group more than
others? Where you particularly want to give cause for thought you could
eg: pause for a moment. You can come up with your own markings – a tip
though – keep it simple eg: P for pause; underline/highlight/bold-up for
emphasis.

Some delivery tips.

• Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse over again.
• If you are comfortable reciting your speech from memory then do so but
it’s more likely and quite honestly safer not to. Anyone can have a
concentration or memory lapse. It is more usual to either follow the script
to the letter or read from prompt notes. Following the script word for word
is the least desirable option as you can become so engrossed that you fail
to gauge audience reactions/involve them. Most public speakers will work
from notes.
• If not sorted for you already, arrange a microphone and sound check.
• Have your notes/script in your pocket and any props that you intend to use
close to hand.
• You should already know who is in the audience but ask/check for any
changes and make any necessary amendments to your speech. Check
that handouts are in place to hand out at the appropriate time.
• Speak clearly and so that everyone can hear you. Practice good diction.
• Take your time – nerves quite often make you speak much more quickly
than you would normally.
• Use your markings effectively eg: P - pausing for effect.
• Make eye contact if possible with your audience, especially with someone
you have perhaps just mentioned.
• Use hand gestures appropriately – try not to fidget – do not put your hands
in your pockets.
 Annex 1

Lucy Marten
Principal Information Officer
Ext :57831
[email protected]

Gareth Bannon
Senior Information Officer
Ext. 57872
[email protected]

Peter Hodgett Iain Bruce – Asst Information Officer

Information Officer Ext: 57793
Ext. 57515 [email protected]
[email protected]

Katy McGuckin - Update Editor Diane Patterson

Ext: 57796 EO2
[email protected] Ext. 57950
[email protected]

Anne Rogers
AO
Ext 57492
[email protected]

Laura Brunty
AO
Ext: 57469
[email protected]
 Annex 2

GUIDANCE ON PREPARING SPEAKING NOTES FOR THE MINISTER – June

2007
The Minister’s special adviser (Dr Esmond Birnie) and Principal Information
Officer should be consulted at an early stage about the contents of a speech.
When drafting a speech or speaking notes, the following key points should be
considered:
• The nature of the occasion;
• The purpose of the speech;
• The audience;
• The policy context; and
• The appropriate language and tone.
The Minister prefers a formal style of speaking – you should avoid using overly
‘familiar’ language in your speech. In addition you should bear in mind that while
some speeches would make excellent written articles, they can, on occasion, be
a bit ‘wordy’ for verbal delivery. Sentences should be short (2-3 lines max) and
should avoid seeking to clarify or qualify the statement to any great degree within
the same sentence.
On most occasions, the following should be included:
• Thanks to those who have to be thanked;
• Positive points about the organisation hosting the event;
• The purpose of the speech;
• An outline and explanation of the relevant policy or policies; and
• The relationship of the organisation/audience to the relevant policy or policies.
The following should be avoided:
• An over-relaxed or patronising tone;
• Injudicious or colloquial language;
• Long sentences with several qualifying clauses; and
• Material which takes more time than is necessary or available.
 Annex 3

Speech Writing

Presented By
Aideen McGinley
Speech Writing
 Annex 4

Bienvenue à cette conférence

d’écriture de la parole

Lucy Marten
Principal Information Officer
Department for Employment and Learning

Speech Writing

New Kids On the Block

 Speech Writing

Sir Reg Empey

Speech Writing

BEFORE YOU START

h Contact the Press Office immediately.

h Ask yourself the following questions:

- Who are you writing for? The Minister? The Permanent
Secretary?
- What is the event? A conference? A graduation?
- Who will be in the audience? Business people?
Students?

h Set a few clear goals before you start writing.

h See the intranet for guidance on speech writing and guidance on

how to contact Dr Birnie, the Minister’s Special Advisor.
Speech Writing

THE GOOD NEWS!

h The Minister may not always require a full speech. Bullet points
on the subject matter may suffice.

h Example: A graduation event may not require a full speech,

rather simple bullet points. While a full speech may be requested
around a policy event.

h Check with the Press Office before you put pen to paper or finger
to keyboard!

Speech Writing

STRUCTURE / PLANNING
h All good speeches have a structure – a beginning, middle
and end.

h Writer’s block?

h Be aware of organisation/Department sensitivities and

established guidelines, key words, themes and messages
that may need to be incorporated.

h Target your speech at your audience.

h Plain English communicates best.

 Speech Writing

THE BEGINNING

h Use a strong opening, one that grabs the audience’s

attention.

h What does the speaker have in common with the

audience?

h Once the speaker has the audience’s undivided

attention he/she will be able slip quite seamlessly to the
‘middle’ of the speech.

Speech Writing

THE MIDDLE

h Set out a series of related points, each one falling naturally

after and building on the one before.

h Avoid overload.

h Consider using logical argument to help

persuade/influence an audience.

h The ‘list of three’.

h Try to think from the speaker’s perspective.

 Speech Writing

THE END

h End on a high note.

h Summarise the main points.

h The end should contain some of the

strongest material.

h If the speech is a call to action then

make sure any action is realistic,
reasonable and specific.

Speech Writing

Cracked it!
 Speech Writing

FINALLY

h Think – is this information clear enough? Is it a bit boring /

repetitive. Does it need a bit of ‘lift’?

h Press Office intranet site.

h Read the draft aloud as if you were reading to the audience.

h Please contact the Press Office right away. We are very happy
to help.

h When writing for the Minister do speak with Dr Birnie.

h Happy scripting and remember you may not need to speech

write every time.
 Annex 5

Welcome

• Good morning and welcome to this special conference

celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Educational
Guidance Service for Adults.

Theme
• The theme of this years’ conference is “Guidance -
Force for Change” and there has certainly been
enormous change since EGSA was established in
1967.

Key events in 1967

• BBC Radio 1, 2 3 and 4 were born and colour
television was introduced at the end of that year.
 • Sandie Shaw won the Eurovision song contest with
Puppet on a String and the Beatles released their
Sergeant Pepper album.

• Films of the year were, the Graduate, Bonnie and

Clyde and the Jungle Book.

• The UK applied for membership of the EEC and

Charles de Gaulle said Non!

• The pound was devalued with the exchange rate

moving from 2.80 US dollars to 2.40 US dollars.

• Some of the headlines were sadly familiar – we had

the Vietnam War and the Arab Israeli six day war.
Foot and mouth disease was also in the news.

• But on the bright side EGSA was born.

Congratulations to EGSA
• Over the past 40 years EGSA has shaped the lives of
many individuals and helped them to consider their
educational options.
 • They have introduced many people to the concept and
the habit of learning.

• They have made a valuable contribution to the

development and implementation of our Essential
Skills policy.

• EGSA has demonstrated that Guidance is indeed a

force for change

• Congratulations on reaching this 40th anniversary.

Economic and social challenges

• In Northern Ireland we have seen many changes in the
past 40 years.

• Now have opportunity to move forward and to shape

our future.

• Face many challenges, both economic and social -

development of Skills has a key part to play in
addressing these challenges.
 • Access to impartial advice and guidance underpins the
skills agenda and helps individuals to chose
appropriate educational and career paths.

• This helps to maximise individual potential, develop

the workforce and impact on the economy.

• Face unprecedented economic challenges, particularly

from India and China and we need to be as flexible,
innovative and forward-looking as they are in order to
compete.

• Need to modernise our businesses and also to create a

highly-skilled, well-educated workforce.

Leitch Report

• In 2004, Lord Leitch was commissioned by the

Department for Education and Skills and the Treasury
to undertake a major review of skills in the UK.
 • He sets out a compelling vision and challenge for the
UK to be a world leader in skills by 2020. This is a
massive undertaking and will require a doubling in the
number of qualifications that the population currently
holds.

• Key Leitch recommendations - by 2020:

• 95% of working age adults to achieve functional
literacy and numeracy;
• 90% of workforce adults to be qualified to at least
Level 2;
• shift the balance of intermediate skills from Level 2
to Level 3;
• accelerate the increase of people with high skills –
Level 4 and above.

• Realisation of these objectives is estimated to achieve:

ƒ additional £80bn to the UK economy over 30
years, and
ƒ a more prosperous and fairer society.

• Important to note that 70% of those contributing to

these targets are already in employment.
 • Achievement of these targets will be very challenging.
Large investment will be required from Government,
employers and individuals. The report recommends
that Government should pay for training in relation to
essential skills, literacy, numeracy and ICT and that
individuals and employers should pay for higher level
skills.

• My Department recognises the importance to the

Northern Ireland economy of creating a step change in
the level of skills. I will be issuing a statement on
skills in the near future.

Employment and Education Challenges

• Dramatic change in the Northern Ireland economy
over the past 40 years with the most significant
changes taking place in the past 10 years.

• Northern Ireland has been the most successful region

of the UK in terms of generating jobs. Unemployment
is currently 3.4%, the lowest of all the UK regions
 • Underlying issues of disproportionately high levels of
economic inactivity in the economy and one of the
lowest productivity levels in the UK.

• High levels of achievement at GCSE and A level but

also a legacy of under achievement in key areas.
Almost 1 in 4 adults have deficiencies in literacy and
numeracy and the skills levels in the working age
population are lower than the rest of the UK.

Success Through Skills

• Social inclusion and economic success are at the heart
of Success through Skills - The Skills Strategy for
Northern Ireland

• The Strategy focuses on 4 key themes:

ƒ understanding the demand for skills;
ƒ improving the skills levels of the workforce;
ƒ improving the quality and relevance of education
and training; and
ƒ tackling the skills barriers to employment and
employability.
 • We are making good progress under all four themes.

The Careers Strategy

• In order to improve the skills levels of the workforce,
DEL is working with the Department of Education to
develop an all age Careers Education, Information,
Advice and Guidance strategy.

• This underlines the vital importance of this area of

work in supporting the skills agenda.

• Strategy has been developed in response to issues

raised by stakeholders; to the Department of
Education’s Entitled to Succeed Programme; and the
Success Through Skills Strategy.

• Aim of the strategy is to develop effective career

decision makers leading to increased participation in
education, training and employment.
• Overall aspiration - young people and adults develop
the skills and confidence to make the most of their life
choices and follow the career path which suits them
best.

• Our vision is that by 2015 young people and adults

will have access to:
good quality careers education provision,
up to date labour market information; and
impartial careers information, advice and guidance.

• They will have developed information handling skills

and the skills to make effective career decisions based
on self awareness and up to date labour market
information.

• They will be life long learners and will be motivated

to pursue continuous professional development to
achieve their own potential, to become effective
employees and to make a valuable contribution to the
local economy.
• The proposed strategy will provide a clear framework
and will have a priority focus on young people and
adults vulnerable to social exclusion.

• Key elements will include:

ƒ access to impartial information, advice and
guidance which is of good quality and relevant to
the individual;
ƒ the development of up to date labour market
information;
ƒ the development of a careers information hub;
ƒ the introduction of a robust quality assurance
process; and

ƒ the development of a qualifications framework and

continuous professional development for all staff
involved in careers education and guidance.

• The strategy will issue for public consultation shortly.

Conclusion
• It is important that Northern Ireland is prepared for
future employment opportunities by having a highly
skilled workforce to compete in the global economy.

• The Department is focused on raising the skills of the

workforce and on improving the employability of the
workforce of tomorrow. This will bring benefits for
the individual, the economy and society as a whole.
• Guidance has a key role to play in this agenda in
assisting individuals to make appropriate choices and
is, indeed, a force for change.