Speechwriting conference heads to Amsterdam

The European Speechwriter Network conference is one of my favorites. I chaired it last year in Brussels, and keynoted its partner conference, the UK Speechwriters Guild, in London earlier in 2013. Now the group's fall 2014 conference is open for registration and we're heading to Amsterdam October 23 and 24. A day of pre-conference workshops October 23 and the main conference October 24 will be held in the historic De Burcht castle, shown at right, a jewel-like setting for the words of speechwriters.

You can choose from three pre-conference workshops:

• Rob Friedman, Senior Director of Executive Communications for Eli Lilly & Co, will be running the workshop Soup to Nuts: Everything you need to know to write excellent speeches. 
• Martin Shovel and Martha Leyton of Creativity Works will run their workshop on Cartooning for Speechwriters.
• And I'm leading my workshop on women and public speaking, Be The Eloquent Woman. 

The main conference day will feature speakers from the UK, Russia and the Netherlands, with more to come. This conference typically features a mix of practical and poetic learning about speeches and speechwriting, and you'll hear from a wide range of speechwriters who work in government, corporate, nonprofit and university settings. See insights from some of the speakers at the Brussels conference in my article for Toastmaster magazine, Presenting in your second language.

Americans may be thinking, "Why go that far for a conference?" So many reasons. You'll meet people from many countries--last fall's conference had attendees from a dozen nations, in Europe and well beyond it, even though the sessions are conducted in English. The conference prefers individual speakers with many perspectives over panel discussions, a refreshing touch. I always leave this conference with enough ideas to blog about and use in my work for months to come, and plenty of resources. But best of all are the professional contacts I make at this conference, so many amazing colleagues and good friends. We share ideas, books, leads and resources all year long. You don't need to be a full-time speechwriter to get a benefit from this conference. I've seen all sorts of business communicators attend and gain insights on how to be better speakers.

Joining either the Network or the Guild gives you a conference discount, which comes with additional resources and benefits year-round.

Go here to see your options for the pre-conference and conference sessions and to register. Will I see you in Amsterdam? Please do feel free to share this information with interested colleagues.