We were very pleased to receive an email from Brian Jenner of the Speechwriters’ Guild telling us that Paddy Ashdown’s former speechwriter, Professor Max Atkinson, is to receive an award from them in just over a month’s time:
Dr Max Atkinson is to be awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award by the UK Speechwriters’ Guild.
The award is being made for his outstanding contribution to the theory and practice of speechwriting and public speaking over the past 35 years.
Dr Atkinson came to national prominence when he used his academic research into the speaking techniques of top politicians, and applied them to a speech delivered by a novice at a party political conference.
The speaker Ann Brennan went on to win a standing ovation at the SDP conference in Buxton in 1984.
The results were made into a ‘World in Action’ TV documentary, produced by Gus Macdonald, (now Baron Macdonald of Tradeston).
Dr Atkinson published the results of his research in a book called Our Masters’ Voices.
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