There are plenty of ways you can be unique and memorable in a speech. Importantly, whatever option you take, it should fit the tone and purpose of the speech and your own personality. But one approach -- especially for a social speech -- is to consider a poem. Or for those with the talent for it, to turn that poem into a song.

This can be a great way to inject either humor or sentiment into a speech. Even if you're working with a professional writer who already acts as a second set of eyes, make sure to have someone you trust listen ahead of time and give you honest feedback. You don't want it coming across as silly and undermining your efforts. (Unless silly is what you're going for in that situation.)

As with any speech in general, the same words from two different people can be a hit or a miss, because so much has to do with presentation and personality. So this will be the case with a poem too. That's why it's good to have that person you know hear the presentation if possible.

If you do hire me for help with a speech and feel that a poem or song is right for you, you're welcome to put my writing skills to the test. I've written plenty of poems over the years. Let's talk about what you're looking for and see if it will make a good fit.

Just for fun ... here's a little diddy for you, written to the tune of "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof. Need the tune? Here you go.

* * * * *

​Speech writer, speech writer
write me a speech.
Make me look grand.
Make me a peach.
Help make my words
sound better than most
so others will love my roast.

Dear writer, see that it's perfect,
Make sure that it is true and it's tried,
It's not that I have an ego ...
It's just that I'm terrified!

Speech writer, speech writer
write me a speech.
Make me look grand.
Make me a peach.
When I'm up there
and I'm all on my own
Your words will put me at home.

When an executive needs a speech, there may be a lot on the line. In some cases, it might be more about reputation with employees or colleagues; in others it may more directly impact the company's bottom line.

The more at stake, the more valuable an executive speech writer may be. And if you're at the point of looking for help, you may want to know what the process is like working with a speech writer. While I can't speak for other writers, I can tell you what the process is with me. And of course I welcome any questions by e-mail or by phone.

(I should mention that I am happy to work directly with an executive or with an executive assistant. I can even work with both if one is simply providing extra information. I just need to have one point of contact who's giving me instructions on the speech itself, including revision requests.)

If you reach out through my contact form, you'll already have the chance to answer questions about the length of the speech, when you're giving it, information about the audience, topic / theme, and data or stories or other information you'll need to share. All of this can also be gathered by phone if we set up an appointment.

But once I understand that it's an executive speech, I'm likely to dig deeper. If, for instance, it's a quick talk at the Christmas party, this general information should suffice. But if it's a talk to the media, or a talk to the company when news hasn't been good, or a talk at a conference, I'll want more information about mood, expectations, overall setting, what the rest of the day has been or will be like (in the case of a conference, for instance), etc.

I'll also want to get a sense of the executive's personality -- does he like to tell stories? Which ones? Does she like certain quotes or statistics? Does he like to joke around? Does she like using analogies? Questions like these help me to better approximate his or her voice in a first draft, helping to minimize later change requests. This means helping to respect the executive's busy and valuable schedule.

I include any number of revisions possible within the time available to us because I want to do everything in my power to make sure the executive is happy with the final speech. Revisions can be requested in an e-mail, or with "Tracked Changes" and inserted comments in a Word document; or by phone conversation. My goal is to make the process as easy as possible, so whatever is best for you is best for me.

Finally, I am happy to offer my input on questions of presentation, and also offer an option for an audio file of me reading the final speech if the executive needs help understanding where to place pauses or emphasis or generally how I envision the speech coming across. In any case, I will make notes within the speech trying to make these things clear.

Any other questions about how I can assist as an executive speech writer? If so, I'm just an e-mail or scheduled phone call away. I can answer questions and even provide an initial sample of the speech before you make any decisions about hiring because, once more, I want to make sure you are happy with our collaboration.