Enjoy these FREE executive communication audio podcasts from Vital Speeches of the Day. Come back often as new podcasts are added weekly!
March 4, 2010 INTERVIEW: On How to Teach Speakers How to Be Charismatic
Hilari Weinstein says she’s more than a speaking coach—she’s an authenticity coach, who teaches speakers how to find their own magnetism. We give her a good grilling. (6 min.)
February 22, 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION FORUM: How to classify the various species of executive?
Executive communicators need to serve different levels of execs via different means. But how to tell who’s who in the zoo? One executive communicator has created a filing system. (3 min.)
February 15, 2010 INTERVIEW: On executive communicators’ least favorite subject, venue management
Speaker forum and leadership conference expert Terry Catchpole explains why it’s so difficult to keep track of the venue landscape, and offers useful suggestions on how to go about it. (7 min.)
February 4, 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION FORUM: How to avoid becoming a h-h-h-h-glib writer
Vital Speeches editor David Murray dares to ask, and his speechwriter correspondents dare to answer: How do you avoid becoming a hack? (4 min.)
January 28, 2010 INTERVIEW: The Day After—Analysis of President Obama's State of the Union Address
The stakes were high for this year’s State of the Union address. We ask speechwriting impresario Dan Gerstein for a rhetorician’s take on the big speech. (8 min.)
January 14, 2010 COMMENTARY: A cry for help
Vital Speeches of the Day editor David Murray has promised to deliver “goose bumps” in his session the 2010 Building and Protecting Reputation Conference in Phoenix. Help him pull it off! (2 min.)
January 6, 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION FORUM: What does it say on your business card and why?
What should a speechwriter be called? (Or is the question, What should an executive communication professional be called?) Vital Speeches editor David Murray wants to know. (1 min.)
December 31, 2009 COMMENTARY: A Happy New Year to Vital Speeches readers
Editor David Murray thanks readers for their help in turning Vital Speeches of the Day from a magazine into a community—and expresses his hope that the community will continue to grow in 2010. (1 min.)
December 10, 2009 INTERVIEW: Public speaking gurus are people too
Speechwriter and speaking coach Nick Morgan points out the mistakes of the best speakers in the world—and offers them tips for improvement. (9 min.)
December 2, 2009 INTERVIEW: Was Obama's Afghanistan speech any good? How to know
Veteran freelance speechwriter Jeff Porro offers four keys to evaluating the effectiveness of President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan—and of any other speech you hear. (8 min.)
November 20, 2009 INTERVIEW: On what really determines the effectiveness of a speaker
In the second of a two-part interview with public speaking guru Tom Mucciolo, we talk about his research on what turns audiences on, and what turns them off. (12 min.)
November 13, 2009 INTERVIEW: On Steve Jobs' speaking skills, with speaking coach Tom Mucciolo
Steve Jobs is being widely lauded as the best-speaking CEO in the world. Does that make him a great speaker, or just the tallest midget in the circus. We get answers from a top speaking coach. (12 min.)
November 2, 2009 INTERVIEW: On the “tremendous” pick-up in the executive-communication job market
Executive-communication recruiter Julie Jarrett, of Heyman Associates, tells speechwriters how to begin exploring the green-shoot-rich job market. (6 min.)
October 21, 2009 COMMENTARY: Sometimes CEOs really actually do “get it”
One way to water down the communicator’s conceit—that we’re more evolved than the people we write for—is to regularly read the “Corner Office” column in The New York Times. (2 min.)
October 16, 2009 VITAL SPEECHES FORUM: How many truly “vital” speeches are delivered in any given month?
If Vital Speeches is going to overflow with fascinating speeches, I need readers to send me more than just the speeches they write. (1 min.)
October 9, 2009 INTERVIEW: Who are the top 10 business speakers?
Executive communication guru Nick Morgan defends his choices and invites his fellow speechwriters to share theirs.
September 30, 2009 SPEECHWRITERS’ TALES FROM THE FRONT: Never let them see you sweat.
Speechwriting veteran Alexander Tsigdinos tells about the time he had to get the Austrian prime minister to stop speaking in time for his chairman to start... (4 min.)
September 24, 2009 INTERVIEW: SPEECHWRITERS’ GOAT, OR DEMOCRACY’S HERO? with Matt Latimer, author of Speech-less
After a foray into presidential speechwriting didn’t turn out like he planned—dreamed, actually—Matt Latimer sought to expose his former boss, and his colleagues, and all of Washington, for what he saw them to be—good, bad ... and ugly. But did he consider the effect on his speechwriting brethren? We asked him. (9 min.)
September 18, 2009 COMMENTARY: Chasing greatness: the only career strategy
Maybe an engineer can have a good career despite working for a series bad companies. For executive communicators? No such luck, suggests Vital Speeches editor David Murray. (2 min.)
September 11, 2009 SPEECHWRITERS' TALES FROM THE FRONT: Sometimes even combat pay isn’t enough
New York freelancer Doug Garr tells a horror story about a six-month speechwriting assignment that turned into a prison sentence—until he tunneled out. (3 min.)
September 2, 2009 INTERVIEW: TALES FROM THE FRONT, with Mike Field, speechwriter at Johns Hopkins University
Speechwriters typically have the job security of pro football coaches. So how has Mike Field managed to survive four presidents over 17 years at Johns Hopkins University? He shares his secret with us. (4 min.)
August 27, 2009 INTERVIEW: Boe Workman, AARP’s longtime speechwriter
After almost a decade of writing speeches for former AARP CEO Bill Novelli, Boe Workman edited and bound those speeches into a 570-page paperback book, titled, Voice of Social Change. We asked him why he embarked on the ambitious project—and whether other executive communicators ought to do the same for their bosses. (7 min.)
August 21, 2009 COMMENTARY: Mister Rogers, Mr. Communication
In 1969, Fred Rogers was looking for $20 million for his fledgling children's show. In five minutes he turned a skeptical senator into his biggest fan--and he got his dough. Watch the man work. (1 min.)
August 14, 2009 INTERVIEW: Brian Jenner, UK Speechwriters' Guild founder
British freelance speechwriter Brian Jenner has taken it upon himself to organize speechwriters in Great Britain into a UK Speechwriters’ Guild, for purposes of networking professional development. We asks him how the group is coming together. (10 min.)
August 7, 2009 COMMENTARY: All your client, all the time
Vital Speeches managing editor David Murray invites executive communicators to tell us how (in the dickens) you keep your client relevant across the infinitely refracted social media marketplace. (2 min.)
August 3, 2009 INTERVIEW: Adam D’Luzansky
The editor of the lively and instructive Podium Pundits website explains why former Democratic and Republican presidential speechwriters came together to blog about rhetoric. (9 min.)
July 22, 2009 TRAINING: Authenticity-It Takes Practice
In putting together a public radio story recently, Vital Speeches editor David Murray learned a hard lesson about the value—and difficulty—of sounding like himself. (2 min.)
July 18, 2009 INTERVIEW: Fraser Seitel
PR guru Fraser Seitel counsels speechwriters on how to survive (even thrive) in a miserable economy. (14 min.)
July 13, 2009 INTERVIEW: John Barnes
Veteran speechwriter John Barnes shares the lessons he learned during a stint on the job market during tough times. (13 min.)
July 7, 2009 INTERVIEW: Joe Duggan
Former George H.W. Bush speechwriter Joe Duggan discusses his provocative recent lecture, “Life After Liquidation of the Fourth Estate.” (22 min.)
March 4, 2010 INTERVIEW: On How to Teach Speakers How to Be Charismatic
Hilari Weinstein says she’s more than a speaking coach—she’s an authenticity coach, who teaches speakers how to find their own magnetism. We give her a good grilling. (6 min.)
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