Quotes | Wall Street Journal Political Diary
Capturing Corporate and Non-profit Leadership in What You Say and Write
Lead them into battle; light a fire; quell a controversy. . . . You have donors to entice, clients to inform, a dignitary to honor, employees to inspire. You have a product to sell, and it's you.
In twenty years of speechwriting, I have done it all and on a global basis -- speeches for political conventions, to honor presidents and prime ministers, testimony before Congress, before members of the Russian Duma, speeches given in Europe, Africa, and Asia: commemorations, explanations, exhortations for C-suite executives and more.
Achieving a script/speech that is fresh, that wakes up the ear, that conveys knowledge and leadership is what I do. Then, I help you deliver the goods. Coaching allows clients to reveal themselves easily to an audience; it prunes away bad habits and self-protective distractions. The speaker is not an actor, but a leader.
In addition to speeches, my opinion pieces for myself and others are published in most major U.S. newspapers, including the Boston Globe, LA Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal Political Diary, Washington Post, Washington Times. Speeches are also published in ITAR TASS, Vital Speeches of the Day, Open Space Magazine and other journals.
Capturing Corporate and Non-profit Leadership in What You Say and Write
Lead them into battle; light a fire; quell a controversy. . . . You have donors to entice, clients to inform, a dignitary to honor, employees to inspire. You have a product to sell, and it's you.
In twenty years of speechwriting, I have done it all and on a global basis -- speeches for political conventions, to honor presidents and prime ministers, testimony before Congress, before members of the Russian Duma, speeches given in Europe, Africa, and Asia: commemorations, explanations, exhortations for C-suite executives and more.
Achieving a script/speech that is fresh, that wakes up the ear, that conveys knowledge and leadership is what I do. Then, I help you deliver the goods. Coaching allows clients to reveal themselves easily to an audience; it prunes away bad habits and self-protective distractions. The speaker is not an actor, but a leader.
In addition to speeches, my opinion pieces for myself and others are published in most major U.S. newspapers, including the Boston Globe, LA Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal Political Diary, Washington Post, Washington Times. Speeches are also published in ITAR TASS, Vital Speeches of the Day, Open Space Magazine and other journals.
What Leaders Say About Today's Communication Needs
McKinsey Quarterly
Leading in the 21st century
JUNE 2012 Dominic Barton, Andrew Grant, and Michelle Horn
Link: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Leading__in_the_21st_century_2984
Shimon Peres: Words are the connection between leaders and the public. They must be credible and clear and reflect a vision, not just a position. The three greatest leaders of the 20th century were Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and David Ben-Gurion. Each had a brilliant mind and a brilliant pen. Their ability with a pen demonstrated many things: curiosity, memory, courage. They understood that you lead not with bayonets but with words. A leader's words must be precise and totally committed.
Shimon Peres is the ninth and current president of Israel. In a political career spanning more than 65 years, he has served twice as Israel's prime minister and has been a member of 12 cabinets
Carlos Ghosn: Leaders of the future will also need to have a lot more empathy and sensitivity—not just for people from their own countries but for people from completely different countries and cultures. They are going to need global empathy, which is a lot more difficult.
Carlos Ghosn is the CEO and chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. He has been the CEO of Nissan since 2001 and the CEO of Renault since 2005.
Moya Greene: My public-sector experience has helped me to understand how easily sound policies can be derailed by small, symbolic things. . . . the tiniest little spark can become a flash fire—something that takes hold and transforms perceptions in ways that don't seem rational. If you work in the public sector, you learn the value of developing antennae for popular perceptions and keeping them finely tuned.
Moya Greene was appointed CEO of the United Kingdom's Royal Mail Group in 2010. From 2005 to 2010, she was CEO of Canada Post.
McKinsey Quarterly
Leading in the 21st century
JUNE 2012 Dominic Barton, Andrew Grant, and Michelle Horn
Link: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Leading__in_the_21st_century_2984
Shimon Peres: Words are the connection between leaders and the public. They must be credible and clear and reflect a vision, not just a position. The three greatest leaders of the 20th century were Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, and David Ben-Gurion. Each had a brilliant mind and a brilliant pen. Their ability with a pen demonstrated many things: curiosity, memory, courage. They understood that you lead not with bayonets but with words. A leader's words must be precise and totally committed.
Shimon Peres is the ninth and current president of Israel. In a political career spanning more than 65 years, he has served twice as Israel's prime minister and has been a member of 12 cabinets
Carlos Ghosn: Leaders of the future will also need to have a lot more empathy and sensitivity—not just for people from their own countries but for people from completely different countries and cultures. They are going to need global empathy, which is a lot more difficult.
Carlos Ghosn is the CEO and chairman of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. He has been the CEO of Nissan since 2001 and the CEO of Renault since 2005.
Moya Greene: My public-sector experience has helped me to understand how easily sound policies can be derailed by small, symbolic things. . . . the tiniest little spark can become a flash fire—something that takes hold and transforms perceptions in ways that don't seem rational. If you work in the public sector, you learn the value of developing antennae for popular perceptions and keeping them finely tuned.
Moya Greene was appointed CEO of the United Kingdom's Royal Mail Group in 2010. From 2005 to 2010, she was CEO of Canada Post.
Quote of the Day
Wall Street Journal Political Diary
October 28, 2008
"[A]ccording to The Huffington Post, Obama's lack of experience is immune from criticism because he attended Ivy League schools, 'was a serious and successful student,' is a well-traveled, published author, and has a diverse background. Heck, he's me! Yet, in every one of my encounters with America's rural communities, the diversity of my privileged experience was eclipsed by the depth of theirs. I had rhetoric; they had well-measured speech, punctuated by forbearing silences. I had easy answers; they knew there was no such thing. It is not that the Republican base is anti-intellectual, as David Broder claims; they are anti-elitist. An Ivy League education is hardly a universal signal of competence in anything other than the liberal cultural canon " -- Joan Chevalier, a New York City speechwriter and essayist, writing in the Boston Globe.
Quote of the Day
Wall Street Journal Political Diary
July 23, 2010
"I love the Mississippi Delta. It's where this erstwhile liberal greenie began her education in real-world conservation -- the kind most often tagged 'community-based.' But the voice of the Delta is missing from the environmental-liberal-administration response to the Gulf oil spill, no matter how loud those Cajuns shout. . . . This is what Bill Maher, pipsqueak of righteousness, had to say about it: 'F*** your jobs. If your job is in some industry that's killing things, maybe you are in the wrong line of work.' Then, he advised the roughnecks to reform their oil-besotted machismo and build offshore windmills in the windless Delta. . . . The International Energy Agency's latest report predicts that even in the midst of a global energy-technology revolution, it will take 40 years for the United States to drop its oil usage by 60 percent. For the next several decades, we will need oil, especially in rural America, where public transportation is not an answer and cattle, hay and fish require big motors to do big jobs" -- speechwriter Joan Chevalier, writing at WashingtonTimes.com.
Wall Street Journal Political Diary
October 28, 2008
"[A]ccording to The Huffington Post, Obama's lack of experience is immune from criticism because he attended Ivy League schools, 'was a serious and successful student,' is a well-traveled, published author, and has a diverse background. Heck, he's me! Yet, in every one of my encounters with America's rural communities, the diversity of my privileged experience was eclipsed by the depth of theirs. I had rhetoric; they had well-measured speech, punctuated by forbearing silences. I had easy answers; they knew there was no such thing. It is not that the Republican base is anti-intellectual, as David Broder claims; they are anti-elitist. An Ivy League education is hardly a universal signal of competence in anything other than the liberal cultural canon " -- Joan Chevalier, a New York City speechwriter and essayist, writing in the Boston Globe.
Quote of the Day
Wall Street Journal Political Diary
July 23, 2010
"I love the Mississippi Delta. It's where this erstwhile liberal greenie began her education in real-world conservation -- the kind most often tagged 'community-based.' But the voice of the Delta is missing from the environmental-liberal-administration response to the Gulf oil spill, no matter how loud those Cajuns shout. . . . This is what Bill Maher, pipsqueak of righteousness, had to say about it: 'F*** your jobs. If your job is in some industry that's killing things, maybe you are in the wrong line of work.' Then, he advised the roughnecks to reform their oil-besotted machismo and build offshore windmills in the windless Delta. . . . The International Energy Agency's latest report predicts that even in the midst of a global energy-technology revolution, it will take 40 years for the United States to drop its oil usage by 60 percent. For the next several decades, we will need oil, especially in rural America, where public transportation is not an answer and cattle, hay and fish require big motors to do big jobs" -- speechwriter Joan Chevalier, writing at WashingtonTimes.com.