What Makes a Political Speech a Hit or a Flop? | The Agenda

Political speechwriters have an important role to play in any election campaign. And of course, there's an art to their craft. So, what ingredients go into effective speechwriting? What makes some speeches memorable, and others miss the mark entirely? Host Steve Paikin asks: Jeni Armstrong, former lead speechwriter for Justin Trudeau, and Assistant Professor of Political Management at Carleton University; Michael Taube, former speech writer for Stephen Harper, and a columnist for the National Post, Troy Media, and Loonie Politics; and Jared A. Walker, former speechwriter for Jagmeet Singh, and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at Broadbent Institute.

00:00 Intro
00:46 What makes a speech memorable?
07:10 When your speech becomes a meme...Jeb Bush
09:27 When a joke falls flat
11:01 Justin Trudeau introducing Obama in the House of Commons
13:16 Donald Trump: Make America's Showers Great Again
14:02 Stephen Harper introducing Brian Mulroney as the "Greenest Prime Minister"
17:12 Jagmeet Singh's Keynote speech at the 2018 NDP Convention
21:05 is speechwriting done by one person or a team?
22:14 Do speechwriters have to be aligned with Party ideology?
25:35 How well do speechwriters have to know the speaker?
27:21 Easier to write speeches today than in the pre-internet era?
28:12 Competing against Mulcair, Reagan and Hawk Tuah Girl
28:51 How many versions of a speech do you prepare for election night?
30:26 Greatest political speech ever?

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The Agenda with Steve Paikin is TVO Today's flagship current affairs program, devoted to exploring the social, political, cultural and economic issues that are changing our world. We consistently offer a diversity of viewpoints and in-depth analysis of what lies behind the headlines. See more about The Agenda with Steve Paikin at https://www.tvo.org/theagenda