THE SPEECH STORY

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Recognize the fundamentals of writing a speech story.

Often, Navy JOs become jittery when first assigned to cover a speech story because they do not think they can get the facts or put them into story form. Actually, any writer who knows the fundamentals of news reporting can write a speech story.

First, the writing of a speech story resembles any other news story in many aspects. The most important fact, the climax of the story, goes in the lead. This usually means that the most important thing the speaker said goes in the lead. Occasionally, the most important fact may be something unusual - audience reaction, for instance - but generally, what the speaker said, either in quote or summary, is the feature.

The Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) may cover four major topics during an address, but the main point may have been the disclosure of a pay increase for all president spoke, no one would have much insight into the importance of the speech.

In structuring the speech story lead, include what was said and who said it. When and where it was said can usually be included within the lead, if the lead does not become too cumbersome. If it does, include them in the second paragraph.

Usually a direct quote lead will not do, for most speakers do not summarize their talk in one sentence. Thus the writer should paraphrase the lead, summarizing what the speaker said in one brief sentence.

PARAPHRASING

When you paraphrase, you must be careful to keep the speaker's meaning. Do not quote out of context; that is, do not quote a sentence that gives a wrong impression when used alone.

For example, a reporter hears the president say, "I haven't decided to seek reelection. However, I have instructed my staff not to be too hasty in looking for new employment." If the journalist had quoted that first sentence alone, he would have given the impression that the president was not planning to run for another term in office, when that obviously was not what the president meant.

QUOTES

When quoting, wait for a striking phrase or summary of a key point. Use quotes in a speech story to give the flavor of the speaker's talk. With quotes you can convey to the reader what the talk was like. To do this, the writer need not quote whole paragraphs because they make the copy dull. A few good quotes scattered throughout the story are enough.

To use quotes, you must understand the basics of quoting. A quotation must consist of the speaker's exact words. The writer should not change one word. You must use quotation marks at the beginning and end of the quote as in the next example: "I think, therefore, I am." You must use a comma to set off the quoted part of the following sentence: He said, "That did it." To add the words "he said" at the end of the sentence, put the comma after the quoted matter and before the quote marks: "That did it," he said.

When quoted matter does not make a sentence, use no comma and no capital letter to introduce the quote as in the following example: He did not "purge them." Note the periods and commas are always inside the quotation marks. No comma is needed after a quote if it asks a question such as in the following: "Did you go?" he asked. Also, no comma is needed with a quoted exclamation point as in the next example: "What a view!" yelled the astronaut.

On occasion, a speaker may make an error he does not acknowledge during a speech or news conference. If you must use this particular quoted material, insert [sic] immediately after the error. This shows, for the record, that the speaker made the error and not the writer. Consider the following example:

"NASA has experienced a very good safety record since the Challenger disaster in early January [sic] 1986. During this time frame. ..."

Handling Long Quotes

Consecutive paragraphs of quotations do not require quotation marks at the end of each paragraph. These are required only when the entire quote ends. You do, however, begin each new paragraph with quotes. Nevertheless, as stated earlier, you can write more effectively by not using long quotes.

The ellipsis is a device of punctuation used in quoting. It consists of three spaced periods ( . . . ) used to show omission of a word or words necessary to complete a statement or quotation. If a quote is long and a writer wants to use it, the writer can delete the unnecessary words by using the ellipsis. However, too many beginners go wild with the ellipsis. They overuse it, sticking the three dots in every sentence. If you must use several ellipses to convey the message, it is better that you paraphrase the sentence.

If the writer starts a quote in the middle of a speaker's sentence, the ellipsis need not be used before the quoted words. For example, the speaker may have said the following: "Considering all factors, and my staff has done that for many months, I feel the trainee would be ready for duty in a combat zone after 20 weeks of basic training instead of the present eight." A JO's sentence may read like the following: General Needam said, "The trainee would be ready for duty in a combat zone after 20 weeks of basic training instead of the present eight."

Then, if you want to end a quote in the middle of the speaker's sentence, leave four dots - three for the ellipsis and one for the regular period as follows: "The trainee would be ready for duty in a combat zone after 20 weeks of basic training. ..."

Quoting is only a part of writing the speech story. The writer must still identify the speaker no later than the second paragraph. Many times the speaker will be identified in the lead.

Even when you think a person is well-known, you must still include a frill name and full title in the story. That way the reader will know exactly who you are quoting and will not confuse that person with someone else with the same name or similar position. If someone is relatively unknown, you may use a general job title for the first identification, such as a college president or a city administrate. Include the speaker's name in the second paragraph.

Quote-Summary Method

Combining the guidelines concerning quotes and the material covered earlier about identification, a lead and the second paragraph for a typical speech story should read in the following way:

President Roland Coaster has asked the Defense Department to revise its training and education systems so every man and woman in service will come out with a skill marketable in the civilian economy.

In his annual manpower report to Congress, the president said, "There are some military specialists whose training does not lead directly to civilian employment. To help them, I

Figure 3-3. - Speech story using the quote-summary method.

have asked the Secretary of Defense to make available, to the maximum extent possible, in-service training and educational opportunities that will increase their chances for employment in civilian life."

An example of a lead with a lesser-known person may read as follows:

The Navy's Chief of Information said in a speech last night that his office was requesting more than 100 additional public affairs duties and emphasized that a preplanned public affairs program was essential.

In the second paragraph the writer usually gives a fuller identification of the speaker, the occasion of the speech, where it was given, and, if there is room and it is noteworthy, the attendance. Next, the writer uses the quote-summary method of organization.

The quote-summary method uses one paragraph of quotes from the speaker, then one of the writer's

paraphrase. It does not matter which comes first -quote or summary. This method allows the reader to get the flavor of the speech through the quotes but enables the writer to reduce the length of his story by summarizing large portions.

For example, the following is a quoted paragraph followed by a paraphrased paragraph:

"Our children can read, write, spell, do arithmetic and use grammar, which is more important than learning a lot of meaningless rules."

In criticizing drill, or rote, teaching, the school superintendent argued that under former methods a child might win a medal in American history and still not understand the meaning of American democracy.

Notice that the paragraph of summary is related to the quoted one. The speech story, like any other, keeps related material together. Figure 3-3 illustrates a speech story using the quote-summary method.