Once the draft is complete, the review process begins. The primary goal of the review process is socializing the language with relevant parties, so no one is surprised at what comes out of the principal’s mouth. This will look different for every organization and agency, but here is what it could look like for you:
1
Send draft to communications team for a check to make sure you are in line with current communications strategies; incorporate feedback and edits.
2
Send updated draft to any relevant policy teams to double-check policy stances and add any further data; incorporate feedback and edits.
3
Send updated draft to the general counsel’s office to ensure compliance with all legal requirements; incorporate feedback and edits.
4
At this point, read the speech out loud to yourself. Time yourself, so you have a good idea of how long the remarks will run and make sure they are in line with the planned schedule, but also listen for small things that can be tweaked. Often, there are alliterations, complicated pronunciations, and other phonetic oddities that will not come out when you are just reading over words on a page—but when you hear yourself speak them aloud, you can pick them out right away and make any necessary changes to the draft.
5
Finally, send updated draft to Secretary and Secretary’s office for final approval and any of the Secretary’s own additions and thoughts.
Through this process, incorporate all feedback—but don’t be afraid to push back on things you disagree with. Always defer to authority and presume good intentions on the critic’s end, but remember that you are the writer and the one who has been in communication with the Secretary—so push back on any issues you feel strongly about (respectfully, of course).
As a speechwriter, you must be immune to criticism. In an operation like this, there are bound to be a lot of different eyes on every draft, all of which have different ideas, stances, and styles. Remember, speechwriting is a creative art, so you can’t take any feedback personally.
In many cases, the edits you receive are merely preference-based. There might not be an objectively right answer, or you might even be the right one. Remember, odds are you have more experience in writing and a more robust writing background than many of the others looking over your draft, who are experts in other fields. Keep that lesson in mind, be confident in your own abilities.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that we are all working toward the same mission, and it was the principal whose words were ultimately the ones making the impression, not ours—so don’t let petty grievances distract you from that objective.
In many cases, the edits you receive are merely preference-based. There might not be an objectively right answer, or you might even be the right one. Remember, odds are you have more experience in writing and a more robust writing background than many of the others looking over your draft, who are experts in other fields. Keep that lesson in mind, be confident in your own abilities.
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that we are all working toward the same mission, and it was the principal whose words were ultimately the ones making the impression, not ours—so don’t let petty grievances distract you from that objective.
