Putting Words in Other People’s Mouth

Putting Words in Other People’s Mouth

After writing for newspapers and magazines for more than a decade I came upon a new way to earn money writing. A friend of mine who is both a writer and an editor referred me to a company that specializes in speech writing. The name of the company is EZ Speech. They hire speech writers from various locations on a contract basis then assign them speeches to write from their pool of clients. Even though I’d never written speeches for others before that time I had written my own speeches as a member of Toastmasters and for the classes I taught. I contacted the company and soon found myself writing speeches for people from all over the world.

I only wrote a few speeches at first but over time some months have been slow but other months I’ve written multiple speeches a week. The work has been interesting, challenging and varied. Sometimes writing for hire can be dry because the writer can’t choose the subjects about which he or she writes. But, speech writing is a unique type of writing. You are not writing instructions nor are you are not writing information. You are taking information provided by the client to the speech writing service and create a speech tailored to the event, place and amount of time.

During the time I’ve written for EZ Speech the variety of speeches has been tremendous. There are wedding speeches, business speeches, key-note speeches, graduation speeches. Some clients are male, some are female. Clients come from all over the United States and some from other countries. The company doesn’t give me contact information as all contact is done through the company. I receive my assignments via the company website and my email address then once I write the speech I upload it to the company website. All I need is my computer and internet service.

The most common speech order is for wedding speeches for brides, grooms, best men, maids of honor, fathers, and mothers. Every point of view is unique and the things people want included in their speeches are as different as they are the same. Some are funny, some are sentimental, some are predictable and others are surprising. One of the most interesting wedding speeches I wrote included a family where the bride’s family lived in Australia and the groom’s family lived in New Zealand. The couple lived and worked in the United Kingdom. They were having a destination wedding on an island off the coast of Thailand.

Another common speech is a graduation speech, whether it is for high school, college or special training program. Some graduates know exactly what their future plans are at the moment. Others are just glad they finished school. Some of them know exactly what they want to say while others give me a brief list of facts and leave the rest to me.

Business speeches are also common. Short or long, written for the public or for employees, they too offer great variety. Some clients are experienced speech makers but simply don’t have a lot of time to write their speech. Many have never given a speech before and need a little advice along with the speech.

Some clients say nothing about the speech you write and just accept it as is. Some will ask for some minor changes. A few will respond with a complement. For any writer receiving complements is a great encouragement.

Writing speeches is an interesting, challenging and fun way to earn a second income. It’s certainly better than trying to work a second job where I have to juggle two work schedules. I can write at a time of day that is convenient to me and I can write from the comfort of my home. It’s not a full-time income but that’s ok. I have a full-time job and I am developing other ways to earn money from my writing.

How about it writers? How do you put your talent to work for you and have fun at the same time?