MERCHANTS, PLEASE STOP TREATING ME LIKE I'M "ALWAYS RIGHT." It's cowardly on your part ... and it's going to get me killed someday. writing-boots.com/2025/09/the-cu… "The Customer Is Usually a Jamoke." Today, on Writing Boots.

PREGIARIZED! An observation I've made about modern speaking coaching turns out to be more than 200 years old, and I'm not happy about it. writing-boots.com/2025/09/pregar… "Pregiarism! Two 19th-Century Gasbags Co-Opt My Dueling Oratorical Theories, in Arrears." Today, on Writing Boots.

FIVE YEARSS AGO I PUBLISHED A CONVERSATION with a conservative friend, about free speech. It was painful to read then, and I think it's more painful now. You? writing-boots.com/2025/09/after-… "After the Worm Has Turned," today on Writing Boots.

AN EFFORT TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT. writing-boots.com/2025/09/seriou… "Seriously, Maybe Let's Just Talk About Something Else. (But What?)" Today, on Writing Boots.

NEXT MONTH, communicators for the leaders of institutions around the world will gather to contend together, with political division, social confusion and technological disruption. Not you? prorhetoric.com/event/psa-worl… Seats are dwindling. Register today. (PSA members get 25% off)

DESPERATELY SEEKING EMPLOYMENT. My first post-college cover letters, spring of 1992. writing-boots.com/2025/09/writin… Do you remember yours?

IT'S NOT THAT IT WASN'T "VITAL." It's that it wasn't a "speech." prorhetoric.com/why-vital-spee… "Why Vital Speeches Won't Print President Trump's UNGA Speech." Today, at Pro Rhetoric.

CUBS - PADRES, IN THE PLAYOFFS? Sends a chill down my inner child's spine. Yours too? writing-boots.com/2025/09/metube… "MeTube: Exorcizing Childhood Sadness ... by Re-Watching a Baseball Game From 1984?" Today, on Writing Boots.

IF 'ELITES' WANT TO CLOSE THE CULTURAL DIVIDE, we should stop buying "fast passes" at amusement parks, and $400 tickets to see Taylor Swift. writing-boots.com/2025/10/prove-… "Trump Is President Because People Can't Afford to Take Their Kids to Disney Anymore." Today, on Writing Boots.

THERE ARE WHOLE CORPORATE COMMUNICATION TEAMS without one strong writer. Is that a symptom of a problem, or the cause? writing-boots.com/2025/10/with-c… "Communication Teams Need Their Writers Back." Today, on Writing Boots.

READ THE NEWS TODAY? Higher-ed leadership communicators cannot do this alone. prorhetoric.com/event/higher-e… Come. Join your colleagues to help one another through the most fraught time in any of our careers.

EVEN IF THEY'RE RIGHT, it doesn't sound good coming from them. writing-boots.com/2025/10/captai… "Captains of Industry Convene to Tell Us Our Kids Should Probably Skip College and Go Into the Trades." Today, on Writing Boots.

YOU WOULDN'T TRUST A MECHANIC who told you your car is "broken." So why do you trust a hedge fund manager who tells you the same thing about something as vastly complex and multifaceted as higher education? Asked and answered, today on Writing Boots. writing-boots.com/2025/10/dont-t…

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS MIDNIGHT FRIDAY, and seats are dwindling. You just can't miss this conference this year. Let's get you signed up. prorhetoric.com/event/psa-worl… (PSA members get 25% off)

AI FOR SPEECHWRITING AND EXEC COMMS—now available on demand. Enhance your value by using AI to get better and faster at Research, Writing & Editing and Strategic Executive Communication.prorhetoric.com/videos/ai-for-… (PSA members get 25% off)

REGISTRATION DEADLINE, midnight tonight. prorhetoric.com/event/psa-worl… #speechwriter

THE STATE OF THE MOVEMENT toward "authenticity in the workplace." writing-boots.com/2025/10/our-st… "Our Stepford Lives: On LinkedIn, Toxic Positivity Is Built In." Today, on Writing Boots.

IT'S OKAY TO CRY. But it's also okay not to, isn't it? writing-boots.com/2025/10/what-d… "A Crying Game, or a Crying Shame: What Does Crying Communicate, Really?" Today, on Writing Boots.

NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER for World Conference Webcast. Don't miss out on next week's crucial conversation. Registration deadline, midnight Friday. (PSA members get 25% off) prorhetoric.com/event/psa-worl…

IF THIS COMES AS A WAKE-UP CALL, you're not asleep, you're brain dead. writing-boots.com/2025/10/the-so… "The Solution to Marc Benioff's Problem Is ... CEOs Should Stop Communicating?" Today, on Writing Boots.