Senator Dodd

On a speech that matters, say, your valedictory speech, how long does it take to write?

I wrote it over a period of time. I felt as though I was putting a period not only on my 36 years in the Congress, but on my father’s 16 years as well. That’s more than a half century of family Congressional service in a country with a relatively short history. So the closing speech was very important to me.

The process began with a conversation with staff who would be working on a draft. I shared the themes I wanted to include. The very best speechwriters can help you judge the sound of words. Not the sound in your head, intellectually, but literally the sound of the words. I would often ask speechwriters to read their drafts to themselves out loud. Sometimes I would record the speech to hear what the words of the speech sounded like. What the words felt like. There’s a lot of truth to that old line, “I can’t remember what you said, but I remember how you made me feel.” Occasionally, you might speak a phrase that people will recall. But in the end what they remember is how you made them feel.

Did you ever study other speakers?

I read the speeches of Churchill, who was very disciplined, and Lincoln. Many of the great speakers share a love of language and a love of history.

What do you do if you sense that the audience isn’t engaged?

If you’re watching the first row of your audience begin to doze in the middle of a speech, stop, pause, and say, “Let me tell you a story.” At least temporarily you’ll get the audience’s attention, but then you’d better have a good story to tell.

If you want to inform an audience about something, you need to entertain them enough to hold their attention. President Kennedy and President Franklin Roosevelt were talented speakers in their ability to do just that.

Of the presidents you served under – Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush senior, Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama – who was the best speaker?

President Reagan was maybe the best. He could emote in wonderful ways without becoming excessive. You could tell when he was angry without him sounding angry. And you could tell he appreciated humor. President Obama had a wonderful delivery, and a deep appreciation for language and words.

Bill Clinton was effective. He could ramble on, but you didn’t mind, because he was so interesting. Not long ago, President Clinton spoke at the center I started in my father’s memory at the University of Connecticut. (The center’s purpose is rooted in the work that Dodd’s father, Thomas, performed as Executive Trial Counsel at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.) We give out an award every couple of years to human-rights groups or organizations that are making a positive contribution to human rights.

When President Clinton spoke, there were around 500 people in the audience, and you could hear a pin drop. Even though he went off on several tangents that left you wondering where his remarks were going, because he was so interesting, he had the ability to keep people focused on what he was saying.

How long should a speech take to deliver?

I always thought that the attention span of the average audience is about 20 to 30 minutes.

What’s the trick to a good opening?

There are situations where a clock is controlling, and they’re trying to move things along. Under those circumstances, you need to get right to the subject of the speech. Similarly, if the subject matter of the speech is very technical, I’ll stick to prepared remarks.

But in a more relaxed environment, I might very well scrap the prepared text and write down a few notes of the high points, and speak extemporaneously. What is very important, if not under strict time constraints, is to begin with words that relax the audience. Humor and good stories can be very helpful.

Is there an example?

Over the years you accumulate quite a few of them. You do not want to tell the same story over and over again, or you might have some in the audience shaking their heads, saying, “You’re not telling that story again!” That doesn’t help the speaker.

A humorous story I’ve told on a number of occasions is about the time William Howard Taft was giving a speech at the Waldorf Astoria, many years ago. He had been out of public life, and the event was a black-tie dinner honoring him. The senator from New York, Chauncey Depew, who thought himself a rather clever speaker, introduced President Taft.

Now, Taft, aside from having been both President of the United States and Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court – still the only person in our history to have held both of these offices – was also physically a giant. He was six feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. Senator Chauncey Depew introduced President Taft by saying, “It’s my pleasure now to introduce you to a man who’s both pregnant with integrity and pregnant with courage.”

Well, of course, the crowd roared with laughter, and gave Taft a standing ovation. Taft slowly got up, went to the podium, looked out over the audience and said, “If it is a girl, I shall call her integrity. If it is a boy, I shall call him courage. But if, as I suspect, it’s nothing more than gas, I shall call it Chauncey Depew.”

Telling a story relaxes the audience and acknowledges that you hope to inform them without boring them.

Was there a speech that was important yet more or less impromptu?

It was an important moment, but not quite “impromptu.” The two leaders of the Senate, Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Minority Leader Trent Lott, called a meeting in the Old Senate Chamber on the eve of the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. It was just senators – no family, no staff – to discuss how we were going to handle the trial of President Clinton. Tom Daschle called me the night before the meeting and asked if I would be one of the speakers on the Democratic side of the aisle. There was not a lot of time to prepare. 

What do you say to your 99 Senate colleagues at a moment like this? I decided to use the Old Senate Chamber, that setting in which we were meeting, for the theme of my brief remarks. I suggested there were two paths the Senate could take in our conduct of this trial. In the very room where we were gathered, in 1856, in a debate on the abolition of slavery, the Democratic Congressman Preston Brooks burst into the Chamber, took his walking cane and beat Charles Sumner, the Republican Senator from Massachusetts. That incident is infamous. It’s taught in high schools. That was one path we could take, turning the Senate impeachment trial into a political brawl. Or we could follow the example of Senators Clay, Calhoun and Webster in the compromise of 1850, drafted right there in the Old Senate Chamber between these political opponents. These three crafted a compromise that delayed the outbreak of the Civil War, and some historians believe may have ultimately saved the Union. That was the second path we could take. The path of measured debate, compromise and decorum.

My point that day was, regardless of the outcome of the trial, how would the conduct of the US Senate be perceived and remembered by historians and others? As reminiscent of the caning of Senator Sumner, or reminiscent of that great compromise of 1850? After I and others spoke, Senator Phil Gramm stood and sounded a similar note, then Senator Ted Kennedy spoke, stressing the importance of us working together on this trial. I recall we all left the Old Senate Chamber with a clear mindset of how the Senate should proceed.

What do you think of the speeches you hear today from corporate executives?

I know some executives go through public speaking training, since speeches are not a major part of their experiences in moving up the corporate ladder. When they reach the senior ranks, they are expected to address audiences of shareholders, employees and customers. If I were coaching them, I would say what Ernest Hemingway said when asked how he began writing a novel. Hemingway said, “The first thing I write, is the truest thing I know.”

I always thought that was not a bad idea when giving a speech. Start off with something you really believe. It will help you as the speaker, and it is good for the audience as well. It’s very important that the audience believe that you believe what you’re saying.

A good corporate executive will have strong beliefs. They wouldn’t be where they are if they didn’t. I would be less concerned about eloquence than conveying authenticity and sincerity.  In short, I would want the audience to know me. One executive who is very good at communicating is Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO. He’s very comfortable on stage in front of an audience, very direct, very authentic.

Has the art of the speech changed?

Donald Trump has changed many things about our country. He delivers what are a series of “bumper-sticker” slogans, not great speeches. But as we’ve learned, they are effective. A good part of the country tell us they have been waiting for political leadership to say what they really believe, someone who expresses his raw emotions.

Consider my friend, Vice President Joe Biden. What some considered Joe’s political liabilities have become strong assets. Joe speaks with great candor, honesty and believability. When Joe talks, people believe he is saying what he really believes. I profoundly disagree with President Trump on many, many issues, but when he speaks to his audience, people believe he’s expressing what he believes.

But the eloquence or logic of a speech, while still valued in many quarters, appears to be giving way to something new. We’re seeing a change in what constitutes an effective speech – a result that seems to indicate less of an appreciation for the well-crafted remarks of a time gone by.

A lawyer turned politician, Chris Dodd is best known for having served 30 years in the US Senate, where he was the author of important legislation including the financial regulations popularly known as Dodd-Frank. From 2011 to 2017, he served as CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. He now serves as senior counsel for Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

Casey Becker is an Account Director with Brunswick, based in New York. He was Special Assistant to the CEO at the Motion Picture Association of America under Mr. Dodd.