About
A man is lost in the forest. For days he had tried to find a way out. Each time, he failed. Close to despair, he heard a noise. Looking up, he saw a stranger coming towards him, ‘Now I will be saved, for surely he know the way out.’
But the stranger approached him and said, ‘Friend, do not ask me the way out, for I, too, am lost. But this I can tell you. Do not go the way I have come, for it too will lead you astray. And now, let us search for a new way together.
This story provides an insight into the value of professional groups and an explanation of how the UK Speechwriters’ Guild started.
British speechwriter, Brian Jenner, was invited to speak at the Ragan Communications Speechwriters Conference in Washington in 2008.
Every year over two hundred US speechwriters come together to listen to each other describe their strategies for communicating with voters, clients and customers.
The questions came from the American delegates to their British visitor: how does speechwriting work in the UK? How can our speakers appear at your set-piece events? How could we promote our magazine that publishes speechwriting tips in Europe?
He couldn’t answer their questions. In December 2008, he tried to find out by sending out invitations to a drinks party in the Theatre Bar of the Victoria in London W2. Thirty people involved in the public speaking, training and speechwriting business showed up.
This inspired the first conference of the UK Speechwriters’ Guild held on Friday 16 September 2009 at the Arts University College in Bournemouth.
It became apparent that there was a community of public speaking experts and accomplished speechwriters in the UK and they enjoyed each other’s company.
It also became apparent that there was little understanding of what a speechwriter does within organisations, and even less appreciation for the idea of it being a specialist skill.
Our third annual conference was in the Executive Business Centre in Bournemouth on Friday 16 September 2011, which attracted speechwriters from France, Denmark and the Netherlands.
The conferences have welded together a community of wordsmiths, keen to share their knowledge with the wider world of how powerful collaboration between a speaker and speechwriter can be.
Our Mantra
If the UK Speechwriters’ Guild were to have a mantra it would be: say less, think more.
Technology has given us dozens of ways to communicate information, but that change serves to underline the importance of how you craft messages.
To communicate effectively, you need to think deeply about what you say and how you say it.
There are such things as experts.
People who devote their lives to the study of how knowledge of ideas, creativity and presentation can be marshalled to influence society and change the lives of individuals.
The UK Speechwriters’ Guild exists to bring those people together for mutual support and encouragement, so they can improve the quality of communication in public life.
We want to link up the best speakers with the best writers, we want people to witness the amazing results we can achieve and we want to employ the best trainers so skills are passed on to others and respected in industry, commerce and politics.