What Bernanke does well as a speech writer

Ben Bernanke’s speech construction is perfect, says blogger Richard Miles.

What’s so good about it? Bernanke abides by the maxim, “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them again.”

According to Miles’ analysis of Bernanke’s March 10 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Bernanke spent 20% of his words setting up his speech, 75% on “tell them,” and 5% on re-telling.

Think carefully about that 25% the next time you write a speech–or any sort of complex communication.