1. 1 Speeches and Meetings Week 4

2. 2 Speeches, meetings and news conferences Speeches and news conferences make a difference –Public opinion –Credibility of information Meetings –Provide public information

3. 3 Speeches Public talk One-way communication –May be a few questions at the end Speakers are usually invited, and occasionally paid

4. 4 News conference Called event Invite the media (usually not the general public) Frequently begin with an opening statement (that a PR person usually writes) Two-way communication

5. 5 Meeting Meetings usually aren’t held with the audience in mind Communication among group members Reporters tell the public what happened that is of interest or importance

6. 6 Preparation Speech –May or may not require much preparation –Background on the speaker (right person) –Background on the topic –Arrange an interview before or after the speech to clarify the points

7. 7 Preparation News conference –Background on the person giving the news conference –Reason for the news conference May not know Educated guesses Check out rumors –Potential one-on-one interviews before or after the news conference

8. 8 Preparation Meeting story –Who is holding the meeting –Is there an agenda Government meetings are required to have an agenda –Beat contacts are helpful here too

9. 9 Covering speeches, meetings and news conferences Get the content right –Accurate quotes in context –Tape recorder? –Audience size, anything happening outside the building? –Get there early and plan to stay late –Coding for multiple speakers (council members)

10. 10 Describing the participants May need to report more than a speaker’s words –Appearance –Gestures –Background if known –i.e., a blind person asking for funds to educate the blind, etc.

11. 11 Writing the story What is most important? Probably not chronology of the event Easy to promise something in the lead that the story doesn’t deliver

12. 12 Writing speech stories Complex Key points in order of importance, not necessarily the order they were presented DO NOT use a “speaker spoke” lead.

13. 13 Writing the news conference story May cover a lot of topics Organize the material in order of importance to your audience May be complex Sidebar for key topics

14. 14 Writing the meeting story Again, what’s most important to your audience and why? Who usually won’t be the main point.