No-nonsense speechwriting for a CEO
Transforming interviews into heroic stories
The client
Anglo American
The challenge
How can you make a corporate awards show have buzz? We were commissioned to work on Anglo American’s annual Applaud Awards (a lot of A’s - sorry) which celebrate individual employees who’ve ‘gone the extra mile’. The ceremony would be hosted by the company’s CEO, Cynthia Carroll – once named as Forbes’ fourth most powerful woman in the world. Our job was to write Cynthia’s speech, the presenters’ scripts and the conference literature.
The solution
We turned written nominee interviews into heroic stories by using classic narrative devices. Intriguing openings and colourful descriptions made them highly readable. As for Cynthia’s speech, we watched her in action on the Anglo American website and wrote in her own indomitable style. Zero punches were pulled.
The writing
‘The team worked day and night for months. Sacrificing Christmas, they tested the quality of all water released across a 40 square-kilometre area.’
The results
Lots and lots of applause at the event and a motivated workforce for the following year
The credits
Copywriting agency: Barnaby Benson Copywriting London
Copywriter: Barnaby Benson
Agency: MSL Group (was SAS London)
Client: Anglo American
