What Was Your Worst Speechwriting Mistake of 2015?

Review your speeches and PowerPoint presentations. Think about each client you served. Consider the return on investment you received for each speaking project of 2015.

These questions will get you started:

1. Did any speech miss its mark? Why?

2. Was any PowerPoint too number-intense? (Tip: If you had to use a laser to identify the key number for your audience, you probably had too many numbers on the screen.)

3. Did a presentation run overtime?

4. Did an audience start trickling out before you (or your client) finished?

5. Which speech took the most research time? Was all that time necessary – or did you simply take too long to do the work?

6. Did any speech fail because of poor audience analysis?

7. Would careful review by a proofreader have caught an embarrassing error?

8. Would line editing by a skilled speechwriter have made your speeches easier to deliver and more interesting to listen to?

9. What speech got the least amount of social media attention? Why?

10. What presentation got the poorest audience evaluation? (Wait: You don’t bother with audience evaluations? Oh, that’s a big mistake. Make 2016 the year you seek feedback on every speech. How else can you get good ROI?)