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CertainlyWorse  No one is coming. It's just you.  2mo ago (text post)   1272 thread views

Speechcraft and Pithiness: Give your tips here

This isn't a large question. Because of the users we have here, I think we could all benefit from short sharp tips to edit our own words.

In this topic, can you provide advice on how to curate yourself when you throw words in speech and on 'paper'.

Links to 'speechcraft' sources are appreciated.

I'll start:

  • Take a second to think about how someone else would hear your words if they were you. (rule 0)
  • Curate and cut your words before you throw them.
  • "Brevity is the soul of wit" - Hamlet - Shakespeare.
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As a sometime professional speechwriter I have no idea how to answer this. One recommendation though is that your page should look more like poetry than prose. Another is that you should write to a clear structure, and include logical connective tissue in your first draft, but then tear down the scaffolding once the thing is built. All the 'howevers' and 'because of thats' just take too long to say.

Is it reflexive that once you've written something, you will go and remove words?

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