Essentials for writing in your speaker’s voice, even if you never meet

To get the message and tone right, do your homework and keep the text simple

From a freelance speechwriter’s perspective, finding a client’s voice and message can be particularly challenging.

Because I have clients across Canada, there are many CEOs and heads of public agencies whom I never meet. Some of them don’t even know I am writing for them.

I am often asked the question, “How then do I write in their voice?” The short and perhaps flippant sounding answer to that is that I don’t even try.

With long distance clients I write in a style that is or should be “every person’s voice.” That means keeping the sentences shorter rather than longer, in the active voice, and simple.

With new clients, I also ask to see the last three or four speeches they gave—and liked.

Next, I check their press releases to see how they are quoted. Be careful here, because press releases are notorious for using quotes that were never actually given, but presumably have been signed off by the person being quoted.