---
title: "Speech Writing"
description: "A speech is built to be heard, not read. The writer's job is to construct sentences that survive the air between the speaker's mouth and the audience's ear — sentences that can be re-listened-to in re"
---

# Speech Writing

## Overview

A speech is built to be **heard, not read**. The writer's job is to construct sentences that survive the air between the speaker's mouth and the audience's ear — sentences that can be re-listened-to in real time only by the listener's short-term memory.

## Core Concepts

### 1. The talk arc (Duarte / Gallo synthesis)

Every well-formed speech has the same five-beat skeleton:

1. **Hook** — a sentence, image, statistic, or question that earns the next 30 seconds.
2. **Frame** — what this talk is about and why the audience should care. One sentence.
3. **Three acts** — the body. The rule of three is not aesthetic; it is cognitive. Three things stay with the audience, five don't.
4. **Turn** — the moment where the talk pivots from explanation to implication.
5. **Call to action** — what the audience should *do, feel, or remember*.

### 2. The 18-minute rule

Carmine Gallo's distillation of TED's curation rule: **18 minutes is the ceiling for a focused, memorable single-speaker talk.** For longer slots, structure as multiple sub-talks with clear act breaks.

### 3. The rule of three

Three is the smallest number that creates a pattern. Use it for:
- **Top-level structure** (three acts, three stories, three asks)
- **Sentence-level lists** ("government of the people, by the people, for the people")
- **Repeated refrains** (Jobs: "Stay hungry. Stay foolish." — repeated three times)

### 4. Applause-line placement and craft

| Shape | Example pattern |
|---|---|
| **Contrast pair** | "They told us X. We chose Y." |
| **Triple build** | "Not A. Not B. C." |
| **Reversal** | "We didn't change the rules. We changed the game." |
| **Naming the moment** | "And that — that is why we are here tonight." |

Place applause lines at **act transitions** and **the CTA**. Never two in a row.

### 5. Speech reads differently than essay

| Written | Spoken |
|---|---|
| Long, subordinated sentences | Short, declarative sentences |
| Nested clauses | One idea per sentence |
| Visual punctuation (em-dash, semicolon) | Audible punctuation (pause, breath) |
| Reader sets pace | Speaker sets pace |
| Re-reading allowed | Live-only, no rewind |

**Read every draft aloud.** If you run out of breath, the sentence is too long.

### 6. Stage-direction annotation craft

Stage directions are inline notes to the speaker about delivery. They live in the delivery script, not the published transcript.

- `[pause]` — short pause, one breath
- `[long pause]` — full silence, 2–4 seconds
- `[lower voice]` — drop volume to draw the audience in
- `[slow]` — drop pace to weight the line
- `[wait for laughter]` — explicitly note that the speaker should hold

Place directions on their own line *above* the line they modify, in brackets.

### 7. Trust the audience

Amateur speeches over-explain. Professional speeches **withhold**, then **resolve**.

- Tell a story before naming its lesson; let the room reach the conclusion one beat ahead.
- Use specific detail, not abstraction. "A blue notebook on the kitchen table" beats "a personal object."
- Cut your second-best example. Two strong points land harder than three uneven ones.
- Don't apologize for the topic, the time slot, or the room.

### 8. Ghostwriting ethics

- **Capture their voice.** Listen to 30+ minutes of their existing speech before drafting.
- **Their stories, not yours.** Use anecdotes from their life.
- **No misattributed lived experience.** Never invent a personal anecdote they did not actually experience.
- **They get final cut.** The speaker must be able to change anything.

### 9. Type-specific conventions

| Type | Length | Tone | Open | Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Keynote** | 18–45 min | Authoritative | Story or stat hook | Call to action |
| **All-hands** | 8–12 min | Direct, warm | Headline / why we're here | What's next + Q&A |
| **Conference talk** | 18–25 min | Expert, specific | Concrete example | One thing to take home |
| **Panel intro** | 60–90 sec | Brisk, generous | Premise of the panel | Name + 1-line bio each |
| **Toast** | 60–180 sec | Warm, specific | Concrete moment | Raised glass + 1 line |
| **Eulogy** | 5–8 min | Loving, honest | Specific memory | Carry them forward |

## Keynote skeleton (18-minute)

```
[HOOK (0:00 – 1:00)]
[step to center stage]
[look up, scan audience for 2 beats]

  Twelve years ago, I was sitting in a parking lot at 2 a.m.,
  trying to figure out how to fire myself.

[pause]

[FRAME (1:00 – 2:00)]
  Tonight I want to share three ideas: [A], [B], and [C].

[ACT 1 — [A] (2:00 – 6:30)]
Story → claim → evidence → micro-CTA

[ACT 2 — [B] (6:30 – 11:00)]
[ACT 3 — [C] (11:00 – 15:00)]

[TURN (15:00 – 16:00)]
[step toward audience]
[lower voice]
  Here is what these three things have in common.

[CALL TO ACTION (16:00 – 18:00)]
[slow]
  So when you leave this room tonight, do one thing:
  [the directive, in one short imperative sentence].

[pause]
  Thank you.
```

## Anti-Patterns

- **The written-essay-read-aloud.** Long sentences, semicolons, nested clauses.
- **The five-point list.** Audiences forget points four and five.
- **The apology open.** "I'm not really a speaker…"
- **The unmotivated joke.** Humor that doesn't serve the arc.
- **The buried CTA.** Telling the audience what to do in the third-to-last sentence.
- **Stage directions in the published transcript.**

## References

1. Nancy Duarte, *Resonate* (Wiley, 2010).
2. Carmine Gallo, *Talk Like TED* (St. Martin's Press, 2014).
3. Steve Jobs, *Stanford Commencement Address*, June 12, 2005.
4. Sam Leith, *Words Like Loaded Pistols* (Basic Books, 2012).