Joan Detz Speaker Services

This morning, TV news reported that President-elect Obama had not tinkered with his manuscript today.  After rehearsing his inaugural address last night, he let the speech stand as he had rehearsed it.

What a model for any executive:  Write it.  Edit.  Improve it.  Rehearse.  Edit a bit more.  Rehearse well.  And then stop editing.  Go to bed.

There’s a point at which re-writing becomes non-productive.  Some executives keep changing their manuscript until the very last minute … making the speech worse with every sentence they add.  Those speakers never get an effective rehearsal because their lines change with every practice session. 

As President-elect, Obama knew what he wanted to say in his inaugural address.  And today, as President Obama, he said it.  Very effectively.

From President Bill Clinton (January 20, 1997):

“Martin Luther King’s Dream was the American Dream.  His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed.  Our history has been built upon such dreams and labors.  And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the twenty-first century.”