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The State of the Union Address

As this chapter shows, organizing, writing, and outlining your speech are crucial steps in eventually delivering an effective presentation. Recall our discussion of White House speechwriters preparing the State of the Union address from the beginning of the chapter. What considerations and challenges will affect their organization and outlines? How will their organization influence their audiences’ perceptions of the speech?

  • Ideas will come in from every direction, so planning and organization are key. David Frum, a former White House speechwriter, observed that “the planning for the next State of the Union really begins the day after the last State of the Union” (as cited in Jackson, 2006).
  • Speechwriters need to bear in mind that they are writing for two different—albeit not mutually exclusive—audiences. Chriss Winston (2002) points out that members of Congress and Washington insiders judge the speech primarily on its policy content, while everyday Americans tend to look for leadership qualities and their own values in the president. The challenge lies in choosing content and language that speak to both groups.
  • The key to avoiding what Matthew Scully (2005) refers to as a “tedious grab bag of policy proposals” lies in the skillful use of transitions. Instead of jumping from point to point, speechwriters need to find and build unifying themes among the many policies under discussion. Thus George W. Bush’s speechwriters were able to draw connections between such issues as cloning and war by focusing on the overall theme of human dignity and human rights. These connections allowed for natural transitions from one issue to the next (Scully, 2005).
  • Creating unified themes is also crucial to keeping the content (and length) of the speech from spiraling out of control. President Bill Clinton was known for long State of the Union speeches that detailed many policy proposals, while President George W. Bush preferred to stick to big ideas.