Unforgettable Moments: Speech Writing Services Made Easy

How do you choose the best speech writing service for your needs?

When choosing a speech writing service, consider factors such as their experience, reputation, and customer reviews. Look for services that offer customization options, provide samples of their work, and have a team of professional writers. Additionally, compare pricing and ensure they can meet your deadline.

Speech writing services for more than CEOs and Presidents:

When I think of a “speech writer,” my mind goes back to Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) on the show The West Wing. He’s a confidant to President Bartlet, working tirelessly in a small office to set the strategic direction of the administration. That show created a myth around speechwriters—that they are only for high-powered government officials and CEOs. Yet not every speech is a conference keynote or State of the Union speech. Oftentimes, you are putting a speech together for a wedding, a retirement, or end-of-year company speech. A speechwriter can help you with the words and public speaking delivery of your speech, whether you need to write a persuasive speech or best man speech. Any special occasion speech requires careful and purposeful preparation to ensure that you will be remembered.

Or, you need help with polishing up a document beyond a speech: an important email, a press release, or a new proposal. A well-versed writer can help in those contexts as well. This guide will help you determine if you need a speech writer and how to vet the one you want to work with. Even if you and I aren’t a great fit, I can recommend other writers to help you out with speech writing services.

Identifying Your Professional Speech Writing Needs

First, figure out how important the event or communication is to your target audience. Even if it seems like a routine email out to the company or a five-minute speech, know that your words carry extra weight given your position. Even the smallest of communications can affect employees and volunteers within your organization. A sounding board before you send that email or give that speech can help with ensuring that an unintended message doesn’t go out. The writing process is never easy but when you have a partner, it all becomes easier.

Second, do you need help with a draft, a copy edit, or a substantive edit? If you’re happy with your message, you may need someone to simply look it over for spelling and grammar. However, if you’re stuck on the blank page (I’ve been there numerous times) or the ideas aren’t flowing, reach out to someone who can provide objective and unbiased advice. Speech writing services go beyond the initial draft but can include feedback on a current draft.

Third, do you need to practice your speech? We can set up a time to run the speech over Zoom and provide feedback on it. Saying it out loud and receiving feedback is the easiest way to catch areas to change.

Speech writing Services: Finding the Right Speechwriter (vs. a Copywriter):

The easiest way to find a writer is to ask other writers who they recommend. It’s similar to auto mechanics. Most mechanics can fix basic issues with a car, but if you have a high-end model or something that only the dealership can fix, you need an expert. Same with writers. You wouldn’t reach out to a novelist for help on a resume. Similarly, some people reach out to copywriters for help with writing. While this is a great start, and many speechwriters are also copywriters, you may be limiting yourself to someone who writes solely for Google Ads or advertisement copy.

Online services like UpWork are tricky to work with. First, most of your communication is limited to that platform and the service takes an incredible chunk from the writers on the platform (15%-20% at times). This causes inflated rates and a transactional relationship.

I prefer to work with clients on ongoing projects—whether that’s a series of speeches, a mix of speeches and professional communication, or long term projects like a keynote speech (or even a book). This approach allows me to calibrate the speaker’s voice and style over numerous projects to understand their approach to the communication project.

Evaluating Eloquence: Portfolios of Professional Speech Writers

Every great writer is going to have a portfolio. Ask for it. Even ones starting out will have sample papers from college or from initial client projects.

When reading the portfolio, ask the following questions:

1. Is there a clear sense of narrative among the projects?
2. Can the writer write in a different voice for each project?
3. Will the types of speeches they wrote mesh well with what I want to do?
4. Even if the writer hasn’t written in my field, can they do a data-driven presentation? A narrative-driven one? A TEDx-style one?

The Initial Consultation with Your Professional Speech Writer

The best speech writers pick up the phone and talk to the client before beginning the project. They want to know if the relationship is going to be fruitful and meaningful. It’s a two way interview, with the same questions in mind for both writer and client:

1. Are we going to work well together?
2. Is the revision process going to feel like pulling teeth?
3. Is this person available for questions and back and forth?
4. Is this a one-time project or are we going to keep working together to create even better projects down the line?
5. Is this someone I can rely upon?

Understanding Pricing of Speech Writing Services

Here are ways in which I’ve seen writers price their services, each has pros and cons to it. I’ll explain my hours-package at the end.

Flat-fees:

Typically, the writer quotes a flat fee for the project and determines how many rounds of revisions are included in that fee. Typically, it’s done by the minute of speaking time for a speech. You can calculate that by assuming that the average speaks around 135 words per minute.

Pros: One easy fee that makes invoicing easy for both sides; no need to worry about billable hours going up like with lawyers and consultants.

Cons: It’s hard to gauge how much work might go into the speech—is it research-intensive or more narrative driven (think TED-talk vs. wedding toast)? Revisions get tricky as sometimes the speech is a great upon delivery of a first draft but sometimes clients want to nitpick every single word.

Hourly rates:

Here the writer charges an hourly fee and bills the client according to the amount of time worked—phone calls, emails, research, writing, editing, etc.

Pros:

In this model, the writer’s entire time on the project is compensated. This is more fair overall and you don’t get into the trap of doing too much work on a fixed-cost project.

Cons:

Hours can run up without clear benchmarks or stoppages. Similar to when you get your car serviced, you get the initial quote, the mechanic finds more issues, has to order more parts, and the service hours pile up.

Retainer or Packages Structure:

In this model, you buy a block of hours for a project or series of projects. You pay an initial fee and that covers the set of hours that the writer will work.I prefer this model as it allows for the establishment of a long-term relationship.

Pros:

You get an up front fee and invoice that clearly marks out the amount of time that the writer will work on your project—anything left over can be used for future projects.

Cons:

While the model is not perfect, the initial project may take up more hours than allotted. However, you can evaluate what the writer has accomplished after the initial block of hours and decide to continue working or finish the project on your own.

The Collaboration and Feedback Process

It’s important to outline the collaboration and feedback process you’ll have with your writer. Answer these questions up front in the initial call or early on in the process so that expectations can be set well between you and your writer for any speech writing services engagements:

1. Which hours of the day can your writer be contacted?
2. What is a reasonable length of time for revisions to a document?
3. How do you give feedback and how does the writer like to receive feedback—over email, over the phone, written comments?

Sealing the Deal: Confidential Aspects of Hiring a Professional Speech Writer

Confidentiality is paramount when working with a writer. However, what makes this hard is asking the writer, “Who have you worked with?” The best ones will most likely tell you general titles and professional profiles—e.g. A Fortune 500 CEO who needed a keynote speech for a conference.

However, while it is assumed, confidentiality should be a key portion of the contract signed with your writer for speech writing services. For inclusion of work in a portfolio, a writer should get the permission of the client and remove any identifying references to their name, profession, and speech (as those could locate the speech easily if it’s on YouTube).

The Value of Building a Long-Term Relationship with Your Speechwriter

Above all, what matters most is the long-term relationship you develop with a writer. Even if you need help only a few times a year, having someone in your corner who knows your voice and perspective can be quite valuable. You will want to establish that expectation early on to have a “go-to writer” who can help in a pinch or time of need. Using the hours-package model above for speech writing services ensure that you will have a writer on hand when you need it.

Speechwriting Next Steps to Hire a Professional Speechwriter:

Let’s chat about your next set of projects that we can work on together. I’d love to hear from you and what you have planned for this year and next. We can work together to create a communications strategy for all of your written and spoken work. Beyond speech writing services, I can help with writing important emails, press-releases, and even full-length books.