Complete access to meetings

It isn't easy writing speeches for a former professional communicator傭efore becoming CEO of the AARP, Bill Novelli founded the PR giant Porter-Novelli傭ut the situation has its advantages.

When Novelli came on board at the AARP, he made two speechwriting-related demands:

1. He told chief speechwriter Boe Workman to drop all the administrative responsibilities he had acquired over many years of working at AARP. Why? Writing speeches for him would be a full-time job. (And it has been, Workman says, because Novelli "knows exactly what he wants to say," and feels strongly enough about his messages to go through draft after draft.)

2. He told everyone in the organization that Workman must have access to any meeting he wanted to attend in the organization. Why? Because Novelli knows he can't spend limitless time with Workman, and allowing Workman to attend high-level meetings is the only other way to ensure the speechwriter has all the high-level information he needs.

Novelli shared these policies during his keynote session at the Speechwriter's Conference last week in Washington.

Come the Q&A, one of the first questions was for Workman, and it was about Novelli's policy of carte-blanche meeting access.

"Is it," the speechwriter wanted to know, "true?"

"Yes," Workman said with a Cheshire smile.

Devoting a whole position to writing speeches and correspondence for the chief executive � and giving that trusted speechwriter total access to corporate meetings: These practices seem at once like no-brainers and also like impossible dreams.

Speechwriters, what's your take?