Writer Poll: Would You "Out" a Troublesome Client?

In a recent issue of Vanity Fair, Rich Cohen wrote a revealing article on his experience as a ghostwriter for late businessman and philanthropist Teddy Forstmann. The piece straddles the line between profile and exposé as Cohen shines a light on intimate details of the time he spent working with Forstmann on his memoir.

It’s an intriguing piece that raises the issue of what, if anything, a ghostwriter should reveal about his clients after they’ve finished working together. We reached out to our network of ghosts to find out whether they would ever “out” a high-profile client as troublesome or difficult to work with. Although many could empathize with Cohen’s struggle, most said they would never divulge private details about their clients’ lives.

For one GG writer, the Vanity Fair piece hit particularly close to home: Karl Weber worked for Forstmann some time before Cohen took on the task, and he had an equally difficult experience working with the businessman: “Yes, I was one of Rich's several predecessors who, like Rich, found it impossible to fulfill the task to Ted's satisfaction. Rich's article gave me the satisfaction of saying, ‘Well, at least now I know it wasn't just me!’”

Speechwriter Ian Griffin has also grappled with difficult clients but said he would never expose one: “I'd never ‘out’ a problem client, even a deceased one, whose money I'd taken (not to mention whose hospitality I'd enjoyed at fine dining establishments and on private jet trips around the world). I make my living as a speechwriter, not a ghostwriter, but both professions require absolute discretion. Many high-profile people are ‘difficult,’ but if we take the assignment we should keep those difficulties to ourselves.” Editor Margot Atwell agreed: “I definitely would not. In this business we're trading on our reputations, and discretion and professionalism are important. If I were a client looking for a ghostwriter and an article like that popped up under a prospect's name, I would have a difficult time trusting that person.”

Other writers agreed that Cohen’s decision to write the piece was unprofessional. Meakin Armstrong said, “I don’t think someone else's lack of professionalism means you can be unprofessional, too.” Tim Vandehey concurred: “Pro ghosts should keep their client troubles confidential. You never know who might out you.”

Jack Rochester noted that Cohen’s lack of ghostwriting experience is evident in this piece: “Cohen admits this is his first fling with ghostwriting, and it shows. I don't see any attempts to reach conciliation or consensus with his author-client, only a brooding, unvoiced resentment. In my opinion, Cohen displays a lack of respect for his author-client, and for the ghostwriting process as well.”

For Joseph Dobrian, it came down to the issue of money. “I would only ‘out’ a client who welshed on the payment. Then I'd warn everybody I could that this person is a liar, a cheat, and a thief.”

Many of our writers didn’t see the issue as quite so black and white. Lauren Paul said, “Absent a contract barring disclosure of the identity or personal information related to the client, it is legally acceptable to write that sort of piece. Cohen very much dimmed his ghostwriting prospects by doing so, but since he never wanted to be a ghost in the first place, that's probably fine with him.”

Howard Rothman took a similar stance: “I think it's okay in this case because (a) both the client and the project are dead, and (b) Cohen says he didn't violate anything in his NDA. I think it's also good that Cohen doesn't make his living as a ghostwriter, because it's not likely that anyone aware of this article will ever hire him in the future.”

Steve George sympathized with Cohen’s struggles, but said that it's the sort of thing that sometimes comes with the territory. “My only negative reaction to the article came at the very end, when Mr. Cohen feels sorry for himself, writing, ‘I am nobody. I'm the ghost.’ I, too, have felt invisible around people attending to a high-profile client, and that can be a bummer, but I also recognize that I am very important to the high-profile client. And he's the one that matters.”

It seems like all of our writers agree: “outing” a client, whether ethical or not, is simply bad for business. “For those who make their living as ghostwriters, it would be unwise to be seen as a ‘kiss and tell’ ghost,” said Laurel Marshfield.

Guest Post: What Leaders Need: A Confident Confidant

By Ian Griffin

This piece originally ran on Ian's blog, then on Vital Speeches of the Day

Seven years ago this month, I started the Professionally Speaking blog. Now I’ve reached the milestone of 700 blog postings. This seems like a suitable moment to reflect on some of the key lessons I’ve learned from my experience in providing executive communications support to my clients in Silicon Valley and around the world. You know you’ve hired a world-class speechwriter and communications consultant when they embrace these seven qualities.

1: CEOs need a confident confidant

Sitting in meetings at major Silicon Valley companies such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco, I’m often the only person in the room without a few thousand people reporting to them or a multi-billion-dollar target to meet. This can be an incredibly useful role that a CEO will come to value. As the speechwriter, I’m the one person in the room the CEO can turn to without an agenda of my own to advance. A CEO once told me, “Ian, it’s lonely at the top. I’ve seen every scam that managers can pull to cover their rear ends. I need someone like you who can tell it like it is.”

Key Lesson: Speechwriters with the confidence to speak up become the confidant and trusted adviser of a senior executive.

2: Be an impartial observer

I was brought in to edit an annual report for a European client with four separate divisions. My role was to resolve the different viewpoints of each group. The VP of Communications needed an outside consultant with the independence required to be able to write a cohesive document. Executive communications professionals are in a unique position to be an impartial observer in large organizations with multiple departments and competing interests.

Key Lesson: Take the initiative and tell the truth, no matter what certain executives want to hear. But don’t take sides within a company. We need to keep lines of communication open to all parties.

3: Take complexity out

Companies are filled with subject matter experts (SMEs) in engineering, finance, marketing, and sales. A speechwriter is a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. That’s our hidden value to a company. It’s my job to know a little bit about everything the company does, and then to know who to ask for answers when I need details. But lack of detail is rarely an issue. Time and again, I’ve asked SMEs for the background needed for 5-10 minutes of a speech only to be given enough data for a two-day seminar. My job is to absorb enormous volumes of data and take the complexity out; to find a way to communicate the message without putting the audience to sleep.

Key Lesson: Learn to simplify. Only include what is necessary to convey what is essential. As Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

4: Tell compelling stories

As has been noted by others, people may not remember what you did or said but they will always remember how you made them feel. Audiences forget facts but they remember stories. Once you get past the jargon, the corporate world is an endless source of fascinating stories. I’ve found the best source of great stories for speeches come from informal chats when you are sitting down over coffee or, as I did one memorable afternoon, sharing a beer and pizza with the CEO in Boston’s North End. We talked about our time there as students. He shared a story about the lessons he’d learned outside the Harvard classroom that I used in a future speech.

Key Lesson: Always listen for stories executives tell about their childhood, family life, hobbies, early career and more. Dig for specifics. As speech coach Patricia Fripp says: “Specificity builds credibility.”

5: Embrace multimedia

The one-hour keynote is an endangered species. Conference organizers know audiences have short attention spans. Given travel budget restrictions, many organizations are turning to virtual meetings. Executives now need to feel comfortable on camera as well as on the podium. My three years as a communications consultant at Cisco introduced me to the exciting possibilities of TelePresence meetings. I also enjoyed access to fully-equipped TV studios to produce All Hands meetings. But it was just as exciting working with the limitations of a simple Flip camera, capturing video which I edited with Windows Movie Maker. These days it’s not just enough to write clever speeches, you need to keep current with the latest in multimedia technology.

Key Lesson: Digital media expands the boundaries of executive communications. Suggest it as an alternative to travel; use it to time-shift; create content that includes outdoor shots, audience testimonials and impromptu out-takes; record staff interviews; livestream events; experiment with transmedia storytelling.

6: Open up the backchannel

The audience is no longer silent. They might look like they are sitting quietly, but a raging debate on what Cliff Atkinson called The Backchannel can occur within and beyond the confines of the presentation venue. I’m amazed at the resistance some speakers have to this. My experience curating Twitter hashtags for specific events shows that there’s a rapidly emerging opportunity to magnify the impact of a speech and increase the reach beyond the walls of the auditorium.

Key Lesson: Learn about and embrace the backchannel. Make sure your executive has a Twitter account and use it for shameless self-promotion and to stimulate a lively debate before, during and after each presentation they make.

7: Learn to ask the right questions

As a communications professional, it’s not your role to out-gun the SMEs, VPs and assorted executives in the C-Suite when it comes to content. Our role is to ask what headline the CEO wants the speech to generate. To find out the audience’s hot buttons. To uncover the unique point of view the speaker brings to the issue. If there’s one lesson I’ve taken away from the work I’ve done for clients, it’s to always be ready to ask “Why is that?” when they suggest a point they want to make in a speech. Then, when they give an answer, having the courage to ask the same question again. It’s often only after they answer for the third time that the core of the speech is revealed.

Key Lesson: Don’t hurry to get to a final draft. Be professional and respect deadlines, but keep asking questions until you reach an answer that will make the audience sit up and take notice.

What executive communications lessons have you learned?

Ian Griffin is a veteran speechwriter and blogger at Professionally Speaking who helps high-level executives craft their communications. He previously worked in the corporate communications departments at Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems and has over twenty years of speechwriting experience.