One Flew Over the Cubicle's Nest

The CEO Blogger

Good article on CNN.com about the CEO as blogger.
CEO bloggers
Points out that 30 of the Fortune 500 companies have CEOs that blog. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, is once again held up as the prime model. That's double the number from a year ago, but also raises a logical question: what about the other 470 CEOs?
My guess is that most still don't buy into the power of this platform, or they don't have time. Or both. There's another possibility:  maybe  they don't write well.
In any case, it's too bad. As the article points out, executive blogs can serve as a goldmine for a senior executive who wants to cut through the PR smoke and mirrors and connect with his/her investors, customers, employees and more.
Let's hope this goes a little faster.

Wake-up Call For Speechwriters

Link: Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter: C-Level Needs Executive-Communications Pros, Not Speechwriters.

Good post by Jane Genova on the changing role of executive speechwriters. Actually the pure “speechwriter” has always been a rare species, employed mostly by Fortune 500 companies, big shot politicians and well heeled business people. This may have added to the aura and mystique. You may think of middle-aged, bearded white men, isolated in their own thoughts, pencil in hand, gazing at their computer screens, on the verge of inventing the NEXT GREAT LINE, one that will bring the audience to their feet, elevating their speaker to dizzying new heights. Jane uses Steve Jobs’ college commencement speech last summer at Stanford University as an example. This is the one where he ended with that great catch line: “stay hungry, stay foolish.” Surely, a clever speechwriter coined that line.

 The reality is that the market for written “speeches” is probably pretty stagnant, and may be declining. By comparison, Powerpoint “presentations” have exploded the last decade. So have the new communications needs, as Jane pointed out, counseling senior executives on everything from the type of media to use to tone. This has opened the market for executive communications managers and consultants, most of whom spend less time actually “writing” speeches and a lot of time supporting execs in other ways, including developing presentations.

 One thing is clear: the world is changing for all corporate communicators.