Business
“I gave the presentation at our executive meeting today. Within minutes my boss received a text from our executive commercial director to say it was the best presentation he had sat through. Thanks to you.”
Peter H, Feb 2011
“The presentation was today…it landed very well indeed and has generated lots of interest in our services. Thank you so much for your support and help.”
Garry S, Nov 2011
In a hurry? Here’s a (37 word) summary:
Helping you:
- Win more pitches
- Present with more authority
- Translate what you know into what your audience needs to hear
Through:
- One-to-one help
- Group courses
- Or just outsourcing your presentations to us
All for less than £2000 (group courses from £300+VAT)
The Detail
Before setting up ‘Great Speechwriting’, I helped companies build their brands. If I learned one lesson in that time, it was the importance of communicating in a way that a specific audience on a specific day finds original, relevant and interesting.
I have subsequently worked with politicians, doctors, lawyers, builders, bankers, accountants and small business owners to create impactful speeches and presentations. For some reason, many of these people who write and speak clearly and simply on the weekends, often ruin their professional communication by smothering it in jargon and technical information. In their desperation to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise, they actually turn off the people they most want to impress.
It baffles me why so many articulate and talented people fall into this trap. The results are familiar:
- Presentations focused on ‘what we’ve got’ rather than ‘what you might want’
- Speeches that are dry and introspective
- Websites that assume customers share their level of technical knowledge
- A high-level focus on supply rather than demand
As a result, Great Speechwriting offers two complementary services for businesses and the individuals who work within them:
1) Cracking Content
Premise: You have a speech or presentation looming, are confident about delivering it, but want help developing your content.
As with any aspect of communication, the trick is to work backwards. We start by understanding your goals. How would you define success when your talk has finished?
Then we try to understand what is most likely to lead your audience to that outcome. It is only then that we can start to think about what you should be saying and how you should be saying it and whether it would benefit from the use of graphics and images or something more original.
At that stage we can either edit an existing speech or presentation to maximise its effectiveness. Or simply start from scratch.
There is no fixed price for this service – it depends entirely on what you want us to do. But here’s a typical example:
Creating a 20 minute PowerPoint presentation from scratch:
- Initial face-to-face meeting to understand your goals, audience and subject matter
- Office-based research
- Phone-meeting to discuss ideas and potential structure
- Synopsis of proposed presentation for your comments / approval
- New script and presentation developed (including graphics)
- Meeting to edit and develop further the script and presentation
- Phone-meeting to discuss delivery
Total cost – £1,500 + VAT
2) Dynamic delivery
Premise: Your big fear is standing up and speaking in front of an audience. You know you have to do it, but you want help and reassurance that you can do it well.
I am a big believer that great delivery is impossible without great content. As a result, I always suggest that we work on your presentation skills hand-in-hand with your material. Experience suggests that once a speaker is absolutely confident in their message and script, then the major barrier to successful delivery is already conquered. As a result, I recommend that we spend some time reviewing what you intend to say before worrying about how you are going to say it. Typically, the process of working on your delivery for a forthcoming presentation might work like this:
Coaching on delivery of an existing presentation
- Initial meeting to discuss your concerns and goals and the relevance of your existing content
- Editing your existing presentation
- Second meeting to work on delivery
- Third meeting to rehearse delivery and work on further concerns in advance of the presentation
Total cost – £1,200 VAT
‘Presenting with Impact’ course
2010 saw unprecedented demand from clients wishing to develop their team’s core communication skills in preparation for business speeches or presentations.
On that basis, I have linked-up with Hugo Simpson, one of the UK’s most successful and impactful performance coaches, to provide intimate one-day courses focusing on the skills required to present with impact.
These involve an intensive one-day course (maximum of 9 attendees) including ‘timeout’ sessions for each individual to discuss content and issues on a one-to-one basis.
These workshops aim to help you win. They focus on helping you communicate more effectively, deliver with impact, build relationships and grow in confidence.
The results have been spectacular. Here’s a taster.
Total cost for a course created for your team in your offices – £1,800 + VAT
A single space on a course hosted by us in Central London – £200 + VAT
Pricing
Please be aware that the prices quoted above are simply examples. I have helped clients write corporate speeches for as little as £300+VAT. Others have asked me to write them a presentation and then deliver it on their behalf at a global conference! Whatever you need, please feel free to call me for a chat or a quote. As you will read elsewhere on the site:
- I will never charge for an introductory meeting
- I will never charge for a piece of writing until you have seen and approved a first draft
Training Grants available!
If you are an English-based employer with between 5 and 250 employees, you may be eligible for up to £1000 funding towards the training that we offer. This rises to £7,000 if you are based in the North West. I’ll explain how to apply for these Train to Gain training grants when we speak.
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“Hi Lawrence
The speech and slides went really well. Thank you for all you hard work and input. We had a once in a lifetime event, it was superb. Thank you so much.”
Karen M, June 2010
“It went terrifically well. Absolutely excellent both in terms of what you said and how it was presented. I think that new business could roll-in as a direct result.”
Paul S, June 2009
