Executive Ghostwriting: Speechwriting for CEO

A CEO of one of Chicagoland's largest companies was to accept an award and needed to refresh her standard speech.

Due to the short timeframe for finalizing the piece and her travel schedule, it was important to determine what she liked and didn't like about the existing speech upfront. That way, I could ask the appropriate questions during our phone interviews.

Essentially, after talking with her for a couple of hours, I stiched everything together into one logical yet enticing story. We included a transition, a comment-slash-joke that explained why she showed a video before her speech. We fleshed out the story of how the company was founded. For example, we inserted a new anecdote telling how she met her mentor. We also worked props into her speech that represented the different roles she took on in growing her organization. I knew she would be nervous making the speech, so I sent her a bouquet of flowers for inspiration before the event.

In the end, she told me it sounded like I literally typed her words, which is what a ghostwriter definitely aims for! Truly, her story, her efforts, and her commanding abilities on stage made this project succeed. She spoke to a standing ovation and garnered a receiving line.