The Art of Speech Writing-It's All in How You Say It

While writing and editing for magazines, books and similar mediums is my forte, speech writing is also something I continue to pursue. Therefore, let my truth be self-evident, I wanted to post a speech that is indicative of my style--one that moves people into action, inspires people to change, and incites them to take action. Speaking from the soul matters.

"This is Why We Fight" Speech by Vito Russo

(Video Transcript of speech: ACT UP Demonstration in ALBANY NY, May 9, 1988
and the ACT UP Demonstration at the Department of Health and Human Services, Washington D.C. October 10, 1988)

VITO RUSSO: A friend of mine in New York City has a half-fare transit card, which means that you get on buses and subways for half price. And the other day, when he showed his card to the token attendant, the attendant asked what his disability was and he said, I have AIDS. And the attendant said, no you don't, if you had AIDS, you'd be home dying. And so, I wanted to speak out today as a person with AIDS who is not dying.

You know, for the last three years, since I was diagnosed, my family thinks two things about my situation. One, they think I'm going to die, and two, they think that my government is doing absolutely everything in their power to stop that. And they're wrong, on both counts.

So, if I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from homophobia. If I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from racism. If I'm dying from anything, it's from indifference and red tape, because these are the things that are preventing an end to this crisis. If I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from Jesse Helms. If I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from the President of the United States. And, especially, if I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from the sensationalism of newspapers and magazines and television shows, which are interested in me, as a human interest story -- only as long as I'm willing to be a helpless victim, but not if I'm fighting for my life.

If I'm dying from anything -- I'm dying from the fact that not enough rich, white, heterosexual men have gotten AIDS for anybody to give a shit. You know, living with AIDS in this country is like living in the twilight zone. Living with AIDS is like living through a war which is happening only for those people who happen to be in the trenches. Every time a shell explodes, you look around and you discover that you've lost more of your friends, but nobody else notices. It isn't happening to them. They're walking the streets as though we weren't living through some sort of nightmare. And only you can hear the screams of the people who are dying and their cries for help. No one else seems to be noticing.

And it's worse than a war, because during a war people are united in a shared experience. This war has not united us, it's divided us. It's separated those of us with AIDS and those of us who fight for people with AIDS from the rest of the

 population.

About God From The Machine

“They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling unable to communicate.” 

― William Golding, Lord of the Flies

The gap between you and  your recipients, your clients, your readers...your friends, will grow evermore tightly bound when being able to communicate, in the absolute best way, exactly what you mean. Relationships are important.

That's where editors and writers with experience come in. Over the years people like me learned how truly vital each word, each punctuation mark, each phrase, text, picture, video or post is. What you say and how you say it matters. Even the best writers out there require a team of editors to ensure the right message is conveyed before anything written goes out into print or appears online--or, better yet, winds up in the Daily News or on the bookshelf. The editorial services I offer are an absolute must in today's fast-paced communication environment with messages swirling in the air forever and ever...and ever. Remember when you wished you hadn't pressed "post" or "send," or published something in print with an egregious error that you couldn't believe went unnoticed before?

Make sure you get to say what you mean, without embarrassing typos.

The services I offer include, but are not limited to:

*Editing manuscripts, marketing collateral or online and in-print copy.
*Writing for online or in-print entities.
*Editing for exams (medical or otherwise).
*Speechwriting
*Transcribing