P R I N C I P A L S    Bill Seyle  John Schroeder Bill Seyle People have been introducing me lately as a strategist/writer. It's supposed to be a compliment. The fact is, I write, and what I write has to make sense. When there isn't enough strategy to support the writing, well, I do strategy. I was writing a speech a few years ago that required me to seek input-that didn't exist, as it turned out-from a corporate attorney. She told me, "This company will NOT make policy through speeches." Maybe not in that speech, but every other speech I've written for her company since 1994 has set a policy, manufactured a vision, or foreshadowed a strategy. My favorite relationships have been those in which I was part of the thinking process for leaders such as: The president of Volkswagen of America, who would call and say, "Meet me in Atlanta on Monday. I want you to sit in on a regional meeting and then turn it into a speech." The president of Fisher Controls, who would tell me, "We're taking Nabisco through the Pensacola plant next week. I want you to be there, listen to what everybody says, and find something new for my ISA speech in Pittsburgh." The president of Multimedia Broadcasting, who would call from Cleveland and say, "We're up here doing due diligence on acquiring the NBC affiliate. I want you to fly up tomorrow, sit in on our debrief, and then write up our proposal to the Board." Writing and strategy are like music and lyrics. Which comes first? How does it happen? We don't know; it's a mystery. Read more about my approach to writing at www.seylewords.com. Curriculum Vitae 1985 - Present President, CorpWrite Ltd Currently write 12-15 executive speeches a year mostly for presidents, CEOs and chairmen of Fortune 500 corporations. Also write annual reports, lead creative teams in the design and execution of strategic communication campaigns, and help design and execute international sales/management/leadership conferences. 1982 - 1985 President, Seyle & Weaver Corporate Writers Provided strategic communication planning and writing services for AT&T, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, and Pacific Telephone Company leading up to and following the 1/1/84 break-up of the Bell System. 1980 - 1982 Bill Seyle, Corporate Writer Wrote executive speeches and motivational/marketing A-V scripts for Fortune 500 corporations. 1976 - 1980 Public Relations Department, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, St. Louis Managed projects regarding corporate advertising and strategic communications planning. 1974 - 1976 Public Relations Department, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, San Antonio Managed projects regarding employee communications and local advertising. 1973 - 1974 Editorial Director, Sun Newspapers, Alvin, Texas Managed the news side of one semi-weekly and three weekly newspapers in the suburbs south of Houston. 1972 - 1973 Editor,The Tribune Newspapers, Conroe, Texas Managed the news side of a weekly newspaper in the suburbs north of Houston. 1969 - 1972 Public Relations Department, Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, San Antonio Managed projects regarding employee communications, shareholder relations, and community relations. Education: BA - Journalism, Texas Tech University, 1969 John Schroeder If you’ve never used an "outside" writer before, you may not know what to expect from me. Maybe the best way to answer is to quote from a couple of e-mails I received recently. Here’s what one brand new client had to say about the first project I wrote for her: "This was fantastic. I thought it was going to take a lot more work than it did, but the draft you put together was right on... I look forward to working with you again." Another client, whom I’ve worked with for years, responded to my first draft of a talk for his CEO, with this gracious note: "In this instance, John, I didn't publicize that you wrote the basic speech. On the other hand, I'm not claiming credit for the remarks, either. People can think what they think. As a writer to a writer, I apologize, but as a speechwriter to a speechwriter, we know how it goes. Essentially, ‘we’ wrote this speech. As you know, though, I always recommend you 1st and foremost when somebody needs a writer... I really appreciate your help. Made a tough stretch tolerable for me." The common thread? When you invite me in on your projects, you get a problem-solver – not a prima donna. My primary goal is to help you (and your company) get your key messages across, clearly and effectively. This means that, beyond drawing on my proven competency as a writer, you can also benefit from my 20-plus years as a business professional. Simply put, all of the work I do today is informed by the projects I’ve handled in the past. Because I’ve written for dozens of companies (in almost as many industries), I can get up-to-speed quickly on the issues and market dynamics you face. That’s critical: It clears the way for productive work to begin, and minimizes false starts. I bring a few other important qualities to the table, too – including: Dependability in a crunch. It’s every communicator’s nightmare: A long-time client accepted a great job offer with another company – and discovered that just a couple weeks after her first day in the office, the CEO was scheduled to speak at not one...not two...but three high-profile venues. She asked me to write the speeches, even though I’d never done work in her new industry before. I think I got the call for a couple of reasons: First and foremost, the client knew she could depend on me to get the words right. But just as important, she and I both understood that a good speech wasn’t the only issue. Qualities like speed, reliability and insight were going to come into play, too. That’s not unusual in the business world. A demanding schedule often just goes with the territory – and when it does, clients know that I’ll do my level best to contribute to a happy ending. Meaning through structure. Recently, the senior vice president of an IT management software company presented me with a challenge: How to turn raw data from several consulting firms...and his own observations from a series of customer contacts...into a compelling keynote speech for an industry conference. The solution? I structured the speech around an unexpected combination of three laws: Moore’s Law (rapid, exponential growth in the processing power of chips); Metcalfe’s Law (the incredible value added by each new node in a network); and the Second Law of Thermodynamics (every system tends toward entropy, chaos). I often find there’s power in patterns: The power to communicate, persuade, motivate. A big part of the value I deliver is helping clients "connect the dots" in unexpected ways for their key audiences. Curiosity...and an appreciation of big ideas. Why does nylon outperform steel in under-the-hood auto components? How does a digital signal processor work? What’s the best way to protect an integrated circuit against an overvoltage surge? You could easily get through life without knowing the answers to those questions. But it turns out, your life wouldn’t be nearly as easy if someone hadn’t answered them. I’m naturally curious about my clients’ big ideas — even the ones that, to some, might seem incredibly esoteric. I get excited when I learn about technologies...or systems...or concepts...or products that can change our lives in fundamental ways. And I try to make sure that excitement shows in the work I do. Read more about my approach... ...to speechwriting at Your Information Center.com, where my two e-books "How to Write an Effective Business Speech or Presentation" and "How to Deliver an Effective Business Speech or Presentation" — were published recently. I love to read. (Here are some titles you might want to add to your list.) I play a little golf. I'm President of the Schroeder Foundation, a modest family trust which contributes to Catholic grade schools and other charitable activities. But lately, my wife Gerri and I have been devoting much of our spare time to volunteer activities at our parish, now that our "kids" are starting to fly the coop. Our offspring include Chris, who took vows in the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 2004; Brian, a recent graduate of Saint Louis University in Management Information Systems, who also loves to pick out blues licks and classical riffs on the guitar; and Ellen, a high school junior, who frequently entertains the family with her talents as a pianist. Curriculum Vitae 1985 - Present CorpWrite, Ltd. It seemed like a crazy idea at the time: I jumped ship from a comfy corporate PR job to become the first non-family member of this professional services firm. But the move has paid big dividends — not the least of which is a writing repertoire now expanded to include: executive speeches; presentations and modules for management conferences, sales meetings, and financial analyst conferences; employee communications articles and speeches; trade magazine articles; video scripts; marketing and sales brochures; annual reports; management white papers. Another dividend - the opportunity to write for companies competing in a broad range of industries: Semiconductor Manufacturing Telecommunications Enterprise Management Software Banking/Financial Services Consumer Packaged Goods Brewing Commercial Baking Chemical Manufacturing Advanced Materials Hardware/Home Improvement Industrial Controls Petroleum Refining Hospital Distribution Medical Products Publishing/Printing Automotive/Automotive Aftermarket Travel Marketing & Distribution Home Maintenance Services 1984 -1985 Southwestern Bell Corporation - St. Louis, Missouri Wrote executive speeches, position papers and financial analyst presentations for the holding company created following the "original""break-up of AT&T. 1979-1984 Southwestern Bell Telephone Company - San Antonio, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri Coordinated community relations activities for a team of twelve professionals and their staffs, assigned to cities throughout central, south and west Texas. Edited a bi-weekly employee communications tabloid. Coordinated direct mail advertising/telephone bill inserts. Prepared daily news briefs for department heads at company headquarters. Education Master of Arts, English Literature - 1979 Saint Louis University Bachelor of Arts, Communications - 1977 Saint Louis University Principals | Recent Activities | Milestones | Contact Us | Home