Abstract
In this chapter, we lay out the functions of speechwriting in contemporary society and explain why it will continue to be a central art and practice. We argue that even though speaking off-the-cuff appears to become more common, and the use of manuscripts appears to become less popular, the future of speechwriting is as promising as its past. The tasks of analyzing rhetorical situations and writing manuscripts will continue. Collaborative writing is a form of collaborative thinking, and thus indispensable to contemporary organizations. New tasks, genres, and forms will be added: micro-speeches, digital technology, and the art of talking speeches into being. The speechwriter of the future will write manuscripts, but will also function as a primary advisor to a leader in the communication arena.
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Notes
- 1.
Cf. Jens E. Kjeldsen, Rhetoric as Working Through. Paper Presented at the Norwegian Media Researchers Conference in Bergen, Norway (Medieforskerkonferansen, October 20–21, 2016).
- 2.
Cf. Kjeldsen (2016).
- 3.
Jeffrey K. Tulis, The Rhetorical Presidency, 4.
- 4.
Tulis, 4.
- 5.
Simon Stjern, “Jeg prøver å skrive det jeg tror de ville skrevet selv” En kvalitativ undersøkelse av tre taleskriveres arbeid med å konstruere karakter i politiske taler. Master thesis, Oslo University (2017).
- 6.
Nadja Pass, “Hverdagens mikrotaler skaber fælles fodslag” (“The Everyday Micro Speeches Create Common Ground”), in Jonas Gabrielsen and Mette Møller, Ledere, der taler - taler der leder (“Leaders That Speak—Speeches That Lead”) (Frederiksberg: Frydenlund, 2014), 99–114.
- 7.
Pass, “Hverdagens mikrotaler.”
- 8.
A central advocate for this approach is Jonas Gabrielsen from Roskilde University, who previously worked at Copenhagen Business School. Gabrielsen is co-author of The Power of Speech (with Tanja Juul Christiansen, Hans Reitzels Forlag: Copenhagen, 2010). He is also co-editor (with Mette Møller) of Ledere, der taler - taler der leder (“Leaders That Speak—Speeches That Lead”) (Frederiksberg: Frydenlund, 2014).
- 9.
Ong, Orality & Literacy , p. 59.
- 10.
Ibid.
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Kjeldsen, J.E., Kiewe, A., Lund, M., Barnholdt Hansen, J. (2019). The Functions of Speechwriting in Contemporary Society. In: Speechwriting in Theory and Practice. Rhetoric, Politics and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03685-0_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03685-0_12
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