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Shakespeare's lessons for speechwriters

John Shosky


The Bard of Avon understood how to write outstanding speeches, and there is still much we can learn from him, says John Shosky
Good speakers are and should always look to improve both the message and performance. Here is a good source for practical tips: read Shakespeare. He was a master craftsman of speeches and understood the dynamics of public speaking.

In fact, Shakespeare would be well-recognised from one speech alone: Marc Antony's funeral oration in Julius Caesar. The St. Crispian's Day speech in Henry V is also a model. They are both works of awesome craft, with simple words, memorable phrases, and lasting impact.

For example, consider the funeral speech by Marc Antony. Here is a reminder of the setting. Caesar has been assassinated. Constrained by a promise to Brutus that he will not speak against the conspirators, Antony does something very cunning; his choice of words tells two tales, makes two diverse, contradictory points. On the surface, he 'praises' Brutus, speaking of Caesar's ambitions, and his own friendship to Caesar. Underneath, he turns the attitude of the crowd from support for the conspiracy to anger against the murders, making Caesar their hero and eventually deciding Brutus and the others are traitors to Rome. It is shocking to see how the crowd slowly turns against the conspirators, with hatred and rage overwhelming all other emotions. Approved words are floating on the surface while underneath those same words tell the audience a more brutal, dismal tale of deceit, fear, and cowardice by the murderous traitors. It has never, ever been equalled for its dark effectiveness.

I am not a Shakespeare scholar... far from it. But as a speechwriter, there is a lot to learn from Shakespeare. His speeches demonstrate traits that modern speechwriters strive to match.

1. He Crafts a Good Beginning
The very start of the funeral oration is now a template for any political speech:
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." It is also a contrast with the earlier speech by Brutus: "Romans, countrymen and lovers (friends)." Antony reorders the sequence to encourage his commonality with
the people, which he sees as more important than emphasising country first. You can see why. Try it yourself.
Stand before a crowd and see the difference if you begin with "Friends" or "Britons." He has it right.

2. He Uses the Right Words
Always strive for the right word, the best word for the message's impact on the audience. Antony speaks so the crowd will rise up against the conspirators precisely because he does indeed fulfill his promise to Brutus, finding words that transparently mean the opposite of what he says, with acidic, corrosive effect in much the same way that Pope John Paul II's homilies in communist Poland spoke of faith and God but also made the audience think of freedom and Poland. For example, Antony's deadly, double-edged use of the word "honourable" mentioned again and again to describe Brutus and the rest, does the job, showing they are anything but that. When he mentions Caesar's "ambitions", Antony shows that Caesar was a man of the people, not the power-hungry tyrant of Brutus' earlier remarks. And Antony does this long before he reads the will that confirms Caesar's love and legacy for the Roman citizens. As it unfolds, the speech is dazzling in its double meaning and depth, and moving in its loyalty and tragedy. It is masterful in its intent, construction, wording, and execution. The speech is dark and destructive, with lashing undercurrents of logic and feeling. It runs counter to the view that a speech must utilise hope and inspiration. Rather, it unites the audience in passionate rage.

3. He Uses Memorable Phrases
Shakespeare makes it all seem so simple; tossing off phrases that stick, condensing the message, and staying with you. And these great phrases come fast and furious, just as Rachmaninoff suggests new melodies
second by second, or Einstein new ideas about a Newtonian world. Antony has some unforgettable lines,
such as "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him." He reminds the crowd that, "The evil that men do, lives after them." Looking at his dead friend, he says "My heart is in the coffin." These are all phrases that outlive the circumstances of the speech.
4. He Uses Simple Wording
Look again at the phrases in Julius Caesar. The words are simple. They are words that communicate well to the audience, showing the value and great strength of simplicity. The words may be used in new and stunning ways. But the words themselves are often one or two syllables, simple words that work well to share meaning.

There is another speech that illustrates the value of simplicity, found in Henry V. The St. Crispian's Day speech is a brilliant example of the strength of simplicity: "If we are mark'd to die, we are enow to do our country loss; and if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honour. God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more."

Look at the number of one-syllable words. Shakespeare understood that simple language is strong and best for communication, even of complex ideas.

5. He Develops an Inspiring Message
Perhaps no speech is more inspiring that that on St. Crispian's Day. This is a speech of positive unification. Outnumbered, against impossible odds, the King urges those unwilling to fight to leave, because: "We would not die in that man's company that fears his fellowship to die with us." Henry would rather think about the small numbers of his followers: "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." Great words; eternal phrases. This speech has been copied, reworked, and plagiarised perhaps more than any other speech. It is a strong speech of leadership, a model for creating strong unity and motivated results.

6. He Unites with the Audience
Henry's speech does this...none better. But Antony's speech ends with a self-contracting, yet effective, unification of a different kind:

"I come not friends, to steal away your hearts, I am no orator as Brutus is; but you all know me as a plain blunt man, that love my friend, and that they know full well, that gave me public leave to speak of him. For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action or utterance, nor the power of speech, to stir men's blood. I only speak right on. I tell you that which you yourselves do know." Antony is one of them: "plain" and "blunt." And he has stirred their blood. He used exactly the right words. He knows this only too well. Famously, after the crowd leaves to hunt for Brutus and the others, he says: "Now let it work. Mischief thou art afoot, take thou what course thou wilt."

7. He Shows the Process of Attitude Change
Time and again, Shakespeare dramatises a public speech, complete
with audience, for our observation and study. We see the speaker deliver the message and we hear the stage audience's reactions. And we even react to the reaction of the stage audience. The speech has two audiences: the one we see on stage and the one in the stalls. We even hear the stage audience think out loud, talk among themselves, and reveal their thoughts, during the progress of the speech in Julius Caesar. We listen to the
slow, incremental, and effective way Antony brings about attitude change and compels the audience to action
against the conspirators. The audience analysis and feedback aspects of this speech are extremely useful in
showing how an audience comes to a point of collective agreement and unites behind a message.

Shakespeare understood that good speakers are very skillful at channelling the thinking of an audience. Often the audience is brought to a conclusion through the forceful logic and narrowing parameters of thinkingin the speech. A speech should set parameters of thinking and then direct the audience, step-by-step to a pre-determined conclusion. Antony's speech shows how this happens.

8. He Uses Subtle Cadence
The lines of these speeches are poetry too. Good speeches have cadence, a rhythm, and a beat. I always look for the beat as reflected by both the words and the silence/spacing between the words.

There is all this and more in Shakespeare. So if you want to learn about good speeches, Shakespeare has much to say and show. And we should appreciate the imagination and craft necessary to make these speeches seem so real. Shakespeare's speeches are often so familiar and famous, we forget they are creations of his mind, even if based on historical fact and intergenerational memory.

Shakespeare's speeches are part of the speechwriter's canon. For example, William Safire's must-have anthology of speeches, Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, obviously includes Antony's funeral speech. The more recent collection by Simon Heffer, Great British Speeches, has the St. Crispian's Day speech. These speeches are included because they are among the best speeches ever written, masterpieces of speechwriting.

John Shosky was a speechwriter in the Reagan, Bush (41st), and Bush (43rd) administrations. He is based near Washington, DC