Transcript Speeches and Meetings

Speeches and Meetings
Week 4
1
Speeches, meetings
and news conferences
• Speeches and news conferences make a
difference
– Public opinion
– Credibility of information
• Meetings
– Provide public information
2
Speeches
• Public talk
• One-way communication
– May be a few questions at the end
• Speakers are usually invited, and
occasionally paid
3
News conference
• Called event
• Invite the media (usually not the general
public)
• Frequently begin with an opening
statement (that a PR person usually
writes)
• Two-way communication
4
Meeting
• Meetings usually aren’t held with the
audience in mind
• Communication among group members
• Reporters tell the public what happened
that is of interest or importance
5
Preparation
• Speech
– May or may not require much preparation
– Background on the speaker (right person)
– Background on the topic
– Arrange an interview before or after the
speech to clarify the points
6
Preparation
• News conference
– Background on the person giving the news
conference
– Reason for the news conference
• May not know
• Educated guesses
• Check out rumors
– Potential one-on-one interviews before or
after the news conference
7
Preparation
• Meeting story
– Who is holding the meeting
– Is there an agenda
• Government meetings are required to have an
agenda
– Beat contacts are helpful here too
8
Covering speeches, meetings
and news conferences
• Get the content right
– Accurate quotes in context
– Tape recorder?
– Audience size, anything happening outside
the building?
– Get there early and plan to stay late
– Coding for multiple speakers (council
members)
9
Describing the participants
• May need to report more than a speaker’s
words
– Appearance
– Gestures
– Background if known
– i.e., a blind person asking for funds to educate
the blind, etc.
10
Writing the story
• What is most important?
• Probably not chronology of the event
• Easy to promise something in the lead that
the story doesn’t deliver
11
Writing speech stories
• Complex
• Key points in order of importance, not
necessarily the order they were presented
• DO NOT use a “speaker spoke” lead.
12
Writing the news conference story
• May cover a lot of topics
• Organize the material in order of
importance to your audience
• May be complex
• Sidebar for key topics
13
Writing the meeting story
• Again, what’s most important to your
audience and why?
• Who usually won’t be the main point.
14