{"id":2823,"date":"2016-01-12T17:58:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T17:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:14:06","slug":"public-relations-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways for PR Pros to Brace the Boss for a Major Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>President Obama<\/strong> delivers his final <strong>State of the Union Address<\/strong> Tuesday night, with the fight against international terrorism expected to take center stage.\u00a0 A lot is riding on the speech, which will help set the tone for the rest of Obama\u2019s term in the Oval Office as well as the 2016 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The president, of course, will address several audiences, including Congress, the American public, the media and U.S. allies. He probably won\u2019t rattle off a litany of legislative efforts, but focus on larger themes facing the nation, according to the <em>New York Times<\/em>, namely terrorism.\u00a0 It\u2019s Obama\u2019s final State of the Union Address, and he\u2019s got to make it sharp one if he wants it to burnish his legacy.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, here are three ways that senior PR pros and communicators can help prepare C-suite executives and other senior managers for a major speech or presentation that needs to reflect well on the brand or organization:<\/p>\n<h2>Know what you\u2019re Selling<\/h2>\n<p>Have a laser-like focus on the major theme of the speech and don\u2019t deviate from that point because it only will muddy the water. Use declarative sentences, along with easy examples of how the company\/organization\/nonprofit will help its constituents and\/or customers.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t get bogged down in the details. Don\u2019t over promise and don\u2019t embellish. The speech will be recorded, and quite possibly deconstructed by competitors. Keep that in mind, and don\u2019t leave even one word to mystery.<\/p>\n<h2>Know your Outcomes<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">In simple and conversational language, tell the audience where the company is headed and how it intends to get there. Be candid about any potential obstacles and how the company will deal with them. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Giving audiences a cold-eyed and honest assessment of the situation will go much further, in terms of support and believably, than communicating vagaries and half-thoughts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Keep it (relatively) Brief<\/h2>\n<p>Remember, the Gettysburg Address is only 300 words or so. And, with apologies to Shakespeare, \u201cBrevity is the soul of wit.\u201d\u00a0 Sure, it\u2019s a huge speech, but that doesn\u2019t mean you have to make people\u2019s eyes glaze over. Indeed, because it\u2019s a significant speech you probably want to keep it around a half-hour max and not add any extraneous comments.<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t want to give the audience an opportunity to tune out the CEO, and that comes with keeping things brief and on point.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>What would you add to the list?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Obama delivers his final State of the Union Address Tuesday night, with the fight against international terrorism expected to take center stage.\u00a0 A lot is riding on the speech, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":13569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[271],"tags":[158,250,133,204],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>3 Ways TO Brace the Boss for a Major Speech - 5WPR Blog<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Obama delivers his final State of the Union Address Tuesday night, with the fight against international terrorism expected to take center\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Ways TO Brace the Boss for a Major Speech - 5WPR Blog\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Obama delivers his final State of the Union Address Tuesday night, with the fight against international terrorism expected to take center\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Public Relations Blog | 5W PR Agency | PR Firm\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/5WPublicRelations\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-12T17:58:12+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T15:14:06+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/barak-obama.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"454\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"303\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cary Leibowitz\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cary Leibowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cary Leibowitz\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/#\/schema\/person\/38ee96fd443c64f8683c157b191ff6ba\"},\"headline\":\"3 Ways for PR Pros to Brace the Boss for a Major Speech\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-12T17:58:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T15:14:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/business-speaker.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"communications\",\"insights\",\"strategy\",\"tips\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Media Relations\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.5wpr.com\/new\/public-relations-speech\/\",\"name\":\"3 Ways TO Brace the Boss for a Major Speech - 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