Book Spotlight: Words That Mean Success

The latest book in our spotlight is Words That Mean Success by veteran speechwriter Jeff Porro. Building on his extensive experience writing for Fortune 250 CEOs, government leaders, and the like, Porro packs a lot of wisdom into this short book.

Words That Mean Success underscores the importance of the spoken word in business and gives sage advice on how to improve public speaking and better engage audiences. And by gathering lessons from top CEO communicators like Warren Buffet and Steve Jobs, Porro shows the real-world benefits of being a great speaker. 

GG: What made you decide to write this book?
JP: I’d been thinking for a long time about updating and expanding some of my earlier writing on helping executives get the most out of the spoken word. But I have to admit that until recently, the thought of sitting down and doing a 200- or 300-page book was too daunting for me to even contemplate. Then I spoke with a friend who had just published a very successful business book, and he opened my eyes to an idea that now seems rather obvious: a lot of businesspeople are extremely busy and prefer books you can read in one sitting. I knew that was something I could write.

GG: Can you reveal a tip or two from the book?
JP: One is that the speechwriting process should start long before you put fingers on a keyboard. A good speechwriter begins by researching the venue, the audience, the speaker, and more. The other tip that may surprise people is that conflict is a good thing—at least in a speech. Lee Iacocca put it best when he wrote, “A good speech, like a good novel, is constructed around conflict.”

GG: How did you get started as a speechwriter?
JP: I became a freelance writer back in the 1990s, when the magazine where I was working let nearly the entire staff go at once. At first I did all kinds of writing and editing, then I narrowed my focus to what I call “promotional writing,” helping people and organizations get their messages out. I began to get bored with that, though, so I worked with an executive coach, Mitchell Groter, who helped me realize that speechwriting was really my strength.

GG: What attracts you to speechwriting? 
JP: I think it’s the fact that a great speech is an artful combination of a diverse set of elements. You have to capture the personality of the speaker, convey a specific messages, target a particular audience, and so on. Plus you can use humor, history, quotes, current events—it’s an exciting challenge to bring it all together and make it work.

GG: Do you have a favorite speech you’ve written?
JP: There is one in particular where all the elements came together exactly the way they should. It was the commencement speech Anne Goddard, the head of ChildFund International, gave at her alma mater, Assumption College, in 2009. She is a terrific woman with a great sense of humor, and she was very willing to share wonderful stories. I’m very proud of that speech, but Anne made my job pretty easy.

GG: If you had to sum up what you do in one word, á la Dan Pink, what would it be? 
JP: “Engage.” I help executives use speeches, talks, and presentation to engage their audiences.

Tips for a Great Writer Website

We've all heard it said: first impressions are everything. This doesn't just apply to face-to-face interactions anymore; in our digital age, often the first "meeting happens online, so making sure you have a great professional website is an important part of building your reputation, both online and off. And for freelancers wanting to grow their client base, a great site can be the thing that sets you apart from the crowd.

Digital first impressions happen quickly. An article on Ragan covered the Missouri University of Science and Technology's research on the topic, and the results might surprise you: the study found that people form first impressions of a website within 2.6 seconds.

Knowing that the look and feel of a website can be what stands between someone reading your content—and potentially hiring you for a gig—or not, we looked at some great writer websites and broke down three essential components: professional appearance, simple layout, and well-organized samples.

Professional Appearance: 

With less than 3 seconds to leave visitors with a positive impression, the overall look of your site should be very professional—avoid pictures of cats, overly "playful" fonts, and anything that could be construed as amateur. Timothy Gower and Cynthia Starks accomplish this well: their sites are simple, uncluttered, and use classic color schemes and fonts. The results are great-looking, professional websites that allows each writer and his or her content to stand out.

Simple Layout: 

Attention spans are shrinking by the minute, and people often don't have the patience to hunt for information, so it's very important to make clear who you are and what you do. Theresa Sullivan Barger and Alan Goldsher do a nice job of this: you have a clear sense of their skills and focus immediately, without having to scroll or click a link. Each also includes a professional photo, a brief bio, and clear tabs leading you to things like testimonials, projects, and contact information.

Although it may be tempting to include graphics, music, and other flourishes, resist the urge, as these are a distraction to your audience. Keep things simple and clear, and allow your work to speak for itself.


Well-Organized Samples:
On freelance writer websites, samples are generally the main thing people want to see, so these should be easy to find and organized well. Whether you group your samples by topic or by project type, the best websites make it effortless to find and peruse your writing. Keith Dunnavant organizes his books chronologically and uses their cover images, which makes his credits both easy to follow and visually appealing.



Janice Harper also takes a simple approach, listing her samples by type and date.



Len Hollie, on the other hand, provides links to all of his samples and organizes them by topic, which lets viewers easily narrow their search.



Each writer has taken a unique approach suited their experience, but each site is well organized and easy to navigate.


These tips should not be one-size-fits-all solutions. Your website should reflect your personal style as well as who you are as a writer, which will be different for everyone. But by having a simple, professional, and well-organized website, you and your content will leave a great lasting impression.

Ghostwriters Unite! Conference Features Dan Gerstein

Next weekend, ghostwriters from across the country will descend on Long Beach, CA for Ghostwriters Unite!, the first-ever conference of its kind, and Gotham President Dan Gerstein will be among the esteemed faculty.

The conference brings together ghostwriters and industry professionals to cover a wide range of creative and business topics, including client management, ethics, and much more. Panel sessions like "The Trust Issue," "Ghostwriting vs. Collaborating," and "Dealing with 'Crazy'" will prepare ghosts for just about anything they might encounter in the collaborative writing world.

Dan will be on hand to share insights from his years of experience running a successful ghostwriting firm. He'll also be a part of the "All-Star State of the Industry Panel" that wraps up the conference. Gotham writers John Kador and Sally Collings will be among the weekend's presenters as well.

This is a great opportunity for ghostwriters to talk shop, pick up tips from the top practitioners of the craft, and kibbitz with their fellow ghosts. Head over to Ghostwriters Unite! to learn more about the conference and register to go.

GG's Oriana Leckert Featured on Publishing Trends

We're proud to share a recent article from Publishing Trends, a site that examines the rapidly changing industry, which features advice from GG's Director of Operations, Oriana Leckert.

"How to Get Your Second Job in Publishing" surveys a variety of publishing professionals, discussing ways to move upward and onward as you navigate the early stages of your career. Oriana shared experiences from her own early days, describing a promotion as a result of her department's reorganization, which allowed her to show that she was capable and up to the challenge.

In addition to the feature article, sister site Publishing Trendsetters, the industry's gathering spot for young publishing pros, has excerpted and elaborated on quotes from the piece in "Your Next Job in Publishing: Sage Advice from Across the Industry."

"You may not realize the ways a job will help your career until later," Oriana says. "Think about ways to craft your narrative: how to tell the story of the work you've done and why. That way, even if it feels like you're taking a detour at the time, you can convince people later that you did it on purpose."

Around the Word

Spring Is Here! As the weather finally warms up after the seemingly endless winter, thoughts turn to sunny days in the park or at the beach with a good book. If you need help picking out your next read, Publishers Weekly has rounded up the most anticipated books of the season, including fiction, non-fiction, travel, and more. Book Riot also shares five new April releases that could make for the perfect outdoor read. Looking for a hilarious book to match that sunny good mood? The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize nominees for the funniest book in Britain were announced this week. Or if you're stuck inside at work, perhaps these delightful pictures of outdoor libraries can tide you over until the weekend. Happy spring!

April Is for Poetry. National Poetry Month is in full swing, and there are so many ways to get inspired and participate. This year the Academy of American Poets is focusing on the role of letter writing in the lives of poets: their website is filled with examples of poets' love letters and poems read as letters. Flavorwire is celebrating with images of incredible handwritten poems by famous authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Emily Dickinson. For a more interactive experience, the Poetry Foundation has a Record-a-Poem feature on their site, which allows people to upload recordings of poems they love. Even the New York Times is getting in on the fun: a software architect at the paper created an algorithm that finds accidental haikus in articles! Still want more? The LA Times' Jacket Copy blog has compiled a number of fun projects, blogs, and events.

Oh, Big Brother. "Teacher Knows If You've Done the E-Reading" is a headline no procrastination-prone student wants to read, but there it was in the New York Times this week. A new startup, CourseSmart, allows professors to track students' reading in their digital textbooks. The major publishers have been tracking data from e-textbooks for years, but CourseSmart puts that data right in professors' hands, allowing them to see not only whether students are reading, but also if they skip pages, how often they open the book, and what they highlight. Is this a little too invasive? Although the professors interviewed were thrilled with the idea, students themselves jokingly bemoaned the "Big Brother" aspect of it. But as the article points out, people are growing accustomed to their data being mined at every turn. Just last summer we did a post on how companies like Barnes & Noble are harvesting data on reading habits from their e-readers. What do you think? Is this an invasion of privacy or just a smart new tool for the digital age? Tell us in the comments.

Congrats to the 2013 Cicero Speechwriting Awards Winners!

GG would like to wish a hearty congratulations to all the winners of this year's Cicero Speechwriting Awards. The annual ceremony—presented by Vital Speeches of the Day and the Executive Speaker—honored nearly 30 speechwriters for their work in many different categories, including public policy, energy, non-profit, economics and media.

Sarah Gray was the Grand Winner for "Lord, Please Let Me Provide for My Family: A Wounded Veteran's Story," a speech she wrote for veteran Neil Colomac. (Read the speech here.)

In addition, GG friends Hal Gordon, Nate Osburn, Paul Nuti, and John Barnes were honored at the event.

Gordon won in the technology category for "Getting to the Future Faster." Osburn's speech for the U.S. Commerce Secretary, "Make It in America," won in the economics category, and he also received an honorable mention for "A Path Forward for American Cars." Other honorable mentions included Nuti's "Convocation Keynote" and two energy sector speeches by Barnes, "The Energy Challenge" and "A Safer, Stronger BP: Our Quest to Earn Back America's Trust."

Click here (PDF) to see a full list of all the winners and to read their winning speeches.

Spring Writing Conferences

Spring is a great time to get out of your home office and into a conference hall! There are some great perennial conferences coming up, as well as some brand-new additions to the field. Here's four we're looking forward to.

On April 5–7 is the Writer's Digest Conference East in New York City, covering a variety of topics related to writing and publishing. The first day is entirely devoted to self-publishing, everything from design and legal issues to agents and marketing. The rest of the weekend includes sessions like "Pitch Perfect," "Writing in the Digital Era," and "How to Become a Regular Contributor at Any Publication."

Ghostwriters Unite!, the first conference of its kind, will see ghosts from around the world gather in Long Beach, California, from May 3–5 to discuss everything from fee standards, ethical boundaries, problem clients, and bylines. Panel topics include "Finding Clients," "Negotiating Fees," and "Ghostwriting for Celebrities."

Speechwriters will gather in London from May 15–17 for the European Speechwriter Network Conference. The organization has invited a diverse group of speechwriters to speak about their work and the lessons they've learned. Topics of discussion will include how to write for international audiences and whether writing for men and women is different.

It's almost time for the annual BookExpo America, which will be held May 30–June 1 at the Javits Center in New York City. The massive three-day trade fair will showcase booths and exhibits by all the major and minor book publishers from the U.S. and abroad. There will also be breakout sessions on variety of industry topics, including "uPublishu at BEA" on self-publishing, "BEA Bloggers Conference," and many, many more.