A “Keep with the plan and battle on team-mates ” is a tough kind of speech to deliver to your
sales team.
Yet it will be the very theme for many sales leaders for the next
year. We are not out of the woods yet even if there are signs of green shoots.
To those business leaders, managing directors and sales
directors who have to give such conference speeches maybe at the end of this year or at kick off events
next January know they may have little new to say in their speech beyond " keep
battling on team "and "the next year will
still be tough."
The drive for cost cutting continues , the appeal to
continue to dig out new business continues ….
Perhaps you are
looking for ideas for your conference
speech or team talks in these times.
To save you some money let alone many hours of preparation
time perhaps the Conference speech 2013
David Cameron at Manchester
might prove a useful model to study.
Your drive for profitable business continues whether
protecting existing business , further
cross selling in existing customers or where possible seeking out new
prospective business - a similar
challenge for the incumbent PM at his party conference at Manchester at a time
when recovery is only just about showing itself.
The structure of the speech was a classic an opening – central theme- close format peppered with the 7 ways to keep up audience interest namely:-anecdotes,
analogies, examples,
facts and figures, some
humour ( wit and a little self deprecation) definitions
and quotes.
The speech also employed rhetoric techniques such the rhythmic pattern of threes and parallelism. I have
identified their use in the script of the speech to illustrate their
effectiveness. Hope you find it helpful.
How you adapt your speech is up to you but this speech but
its techniques will perhaps give you some inspiration for your next visit to
the podium, lectern or stage.
To ease your study, scroll to the highlighted and bracketed
comments – I have used the whole speech !!
This week in Manchester we’ve shown
this Party is on the side of hardworking
people. (Mention your
conference theme at the outset)
( Use a series of enabling verbs to illustrate the theme with words ending in –ing)
Helping young people buy their
own home.
Getting the long-term
unemployed back to work.
Freezing fuel duty.
Backing marriage
Cutting the deficit.
Creating jobs.
Creating wealth.
( first use of many
patterns of three)
Make no mistake: it is
this Party with the (1) verve, (2) energy and (3) ideas to take our country forward … and I want to
thank everyone here for the great week we’ve had. ( Telegraph your thanks
to the conference attendees)
( Link attention getter
e.g. back in…)
When we came to office, we faced a clear and daunting task: to turn our country
around.
In May 2010, the needle
on the gauge was at crisis point.( use a word picture to make abstract concepts
more concrete)
People were talking
about this country in a way they had not done for decades.
( Illustrate signs of
hope/ progress by –ing words) But three and a half years later, we are beginning to
turn the corner.
The deficit is falling.
Our economy is growing.
The numbers of our
fellow countrymen and women in work are rising.
(Be optimistic but
realistic)
We are not there yet,
not by a long way.
But, my friends, we are
on our way.
I want to thank the
people who have done the most to get us this far.
You. The British people.
( Your audience may not
just be in the room if the speech is
being recorded or broadcast so relate to audience both in and beyond the room
in this speech 1 The British people and 2 British Business)
( use –ing words to
resonate with their experience of what they have been going through- it’s shows
you ‘get them’) )Never giving up. Working those extra hours. Coping with those necessary cuts.
You. British business. You kept people on in the hard times.
Invested before you knew for certain that things were getting better.
Together – we are
clearing up the mess that Labour left.
(Use of telegraphed rhetorical question as attention getter –
note how the question is unravelled in stages- first in its simplest form and then expanded forms)
But I have a simple question, to the
people in this hall and beyond it.
Is that enough? (First part
iteration of question – simplest and basic from)
Is it enough that we just clear up
Labour’s mess and think ‘job done’? ( Fuller version
of question) Is it enough to just
fix what went wrong? ( Extended question)
I say – no. Not for me.
(
Answering your own rhetorical question)
This isn’t job done ;
it is job begun.
( It isn’t ‘x’ ; is ‘y’)
I didn’t come into
politics just to fix what went wrong, but to build something right.
(I didn’t come into
politics /business to do just do ‘x’ but ‘y’.
Telegraph your values and dreams as their leader)
We in this party – we
don’t dream of deficits and decimal points and dry fiscal plans … our dreams
are about helping people get on in life … aspiration, opportunity … these are
our words, our dreams.
( Share your mission)
So today I want to talk
about our one, abiding mission … I believe it is the great
Conservative mission … that as our economy starts to recover … we build a
land of opportunity in our country today.
Now, I know, it’ll be
tough.
( Share your faith in
your team)
But I know we’ve got
what it takes in this Party.
(Share your positive
mental attitude)
Some people say “can’t
be done” – Conservatives say “what’s to stop us?”
(Illustrations and
proofs name your team – give
examples of their great work)
They said we couldn’t
get terrorists out of our own country.
Well – Theresa knew otherwise ... and that’s
why Abu Qatada had his very own May Day this year ... didn’t it feel good
seeing him get on that plane?
Some people said the
NHS wasn’t safe in our hands.
Well – we knew
otherwise.
Who protected spending
on the NHS? Not Labour – us.
Who started the Cancer
Drugs Fund? Not Labour – us.
And by the way – who
presided over Mid Staffs … patients left for so long without water, they were
drinking out of dirty vases ... people’s grandparents lying filthy and unwashed
for days.
Who allowed that to
happen? Yes, it was Labour ... and don’t you dare lecture anyone on the NHS
again.
And some people say a
lot of things on Europe.
(Patterns of three)
(1)You’ll never be able to veto an EU treaty.
(2)You’ll never cut the Budget.
And if you did these
things – (3) you’d have no allies in Europe.
Well we’ve proved them
wrong.
(Balancing pattern of
three)
(1). I vetoed that
treaty …(2.) I got Britain
out of the EU bail-out scheme … and yes –(3. )cut that budget.
And in doing all this,
we haven’t lost respect – we’ve won allies to get powers back from Europe.
That is what we will do
... and at the end of it – yes – we will give the British people their say in a
referendum.
That is our pledge. It
will be your choice: in or out.
BRITAIN IN THE WORLD
And friends, you know
what someone said about us recently?
Apparently some Russian
official said: Britain is
“just a small island that no one pays any attention to.”
Really?
Let me just get this
off my chest.
( List of proof answers to rhetorical
questions)
When the world wanted rights, who
wrote Magna
Carta?
When they wanted
representation, who built the first Parliament?
When they looked for
compassion, who led the abolition of slavery?
When they searched for
equality, who gave women the vote? (The Russian revolution may have given women
voting rights I think – anyhow the point here is check with people you know who
have the facts!)
( Use phrases of the
good and great e.g. Winston Churchill “We will never surrender” from World War
2 blood soil and sweat)
When their freedom was
in peril, who offered blood, toil, tears and sweat?
And today – whose music
do they dance to?
Whose universities do
they flock to?
Whose football league
do they watch?
Whose example of
tolerance … of people living together from every nation, every religion, young
and old, straight and gay … whose example do they aspire to?
( Double punchline)
I haven’t even got on
to the fact that this small island beat Russia (1st punch line) in the Olympics last
year … or that the biggest-selling vodka brand in the world isn’t Russian, it’s
British – Smirnoff – made in Fife (2nd punch line) … so yes, we may be a
small island … but I tell you what, we’re a great country.
(After laugh get
serious straightaway to maintain leader image)
But I want to make a
serious point about our place in the world.
Following that vote on Syria in the House of Commons, some people said
it was time for Britain
to rethink our role.
I’m sorry – but I don’t
agree.
If we shrunk from the
world we would be less safe and less prosperous.
(Patterns of three)
(1) The role we play, (2) the organisations we belong to ... and yes
– (3) the fact our defence budget remains the 4th largest in the world ... all
this is not about national vanity – it’s about our national interest.
(Patterns of three)
When British citizens –
our (1)fathers, (2)mothers, (3)daughters – are in danger ... whether that’s in
the deserts of Algeria or
the city of Nairobi
… then combating international terrorism – it matters to us.
When five of the
world’s fastest growing economies are African … then trading with Africa – and
yes helping Africa to develop with aid – that
matters to us.
And at the heart of all
this work – the finest Foreign Secretary I could ask for: William Hague.
Around the world, we
really do matter as a United Kingdom
… England, Wales, Northern
Ireland and Scotland.
The date of the
referendum has been set. The decision is for Scotland to make.
(Patterns of three)
All the arguments about
our (1) economy,(2) jobs, (3)currency – I believe they make an unanswerable
case for the UK.
But today I want a more
simple message to go out to all the people of Scotland.
From us here in this
hall, from me, from this party, from this country, from England, Wales,
Northern Ireland
… and it’s this:
We want you to stay.
We want to stick
together.
Think of all we’ve
achieved together – the things we can do together.
The nations – as one.
Our Kingdom – United.
For 12 years now, men
and women from all parts of these islands have been serving their country in Afghanistan.
Next year, the last of
our combat troops will be coming home ... having trained up the Afghans to look
after their own country.
More than a decade of
war.
Sacrifice beyond
measure – from the finest and bravest armed forces in the world.
And I want us to stand,
to raise the roof in here, to show just how proud of those men and women we
are.
( Use of link back –
Thatcher times)
THATCHER
We in this room are a
team.
And this year, we said
goodbye to one of our team.
Margaret Thatcher made
our country stand tall again, at home and abroad.
Rescuing our economy. Giving power to our people.
Spreading home ownership. Creating work. Winning the Cold War. Saving the Falklands.
I asked her about her
record once.
I was sitting next to
her at a dinner – and I was really nervous.
As ever she was totally
charming, she put me at ease ... but after a while I said: “Margaret, if you
had your time in Government again, is there anything you’d do differently?”
And she turned to me
and said: “You know, I think I did pretty well the first time around.”
Well we can all agree
with that – and we can all agree on this ... she was the greatest peacetime
Prime Minister our country has ever had.
LABOUR’S MESS
Margaret Thatcher had an
almighty mess to clear up when she came to office … and so did we.
We will never forget
what we found.
The biggest Budget
deficit in our peacetime history.
The deepest recession
since the Second World War.
But it wasn’t just the
debt and deficit Labour left … it was who got hurt.
( Mix in emotional
triggers with the ‘drier’ factual material)
Millions coming here
from overseas while millions of British people were left on welfare.
The richest paying
lower tax rates than their cleaners.
Unsustainable, debt-fuelled
banks booming – while manufacturing withered away.
The North falling
further behind.
Towns where a quarter
of people lived on benefits.
Schools where 8 out of
10 children didn’t get five decent GCSEs.
Yes, they were famously
“intensely relaxed” about people getting filthy rich … but tragically, they
were also “intensely relaxed” about people staying stuck on welfare year after
year ... “intensely relaxed” about children leaving school without proper
qualifications so they couldn’t hope to get a job at the end of it.
That was it.
That was what they
left.
(Pattern of threes)
The (1) casino economy
meets the (2) welfare society meets the (3) broken education system ... a
country for the few built by the so-called party of the many … and Labour: we
will never let you forget it.
OUR MISSION
These past few years
have been a real struggle.
But what people want to
know now is: was the struggle worth it?
And here’s the honest
answer.
The struggle will only
be worth it if we as a country finish the job we’ve started.
Finishing the job means
understanding this.
Our economy may be
turning the corner – and of course that’s great.
But we still haven’t
finished paying for Labour’s Debt Crisis.
If anyone thinks that’s
over, done, dealt with – they’re living in a fantasy land.
This country’s debt
crisis, created by Labour, is not over.
After three years of
cuts, we still have one of the biggest deficits in the world.
We are still spending
more than we earn.
We still need to earn
more and yes, our Government still needs to spend less.
I see that Labour have
stopped talking about the debt crisis and now they talk about the cost of
living crisis.
As if one wasn’t
directly related to the other.
If you want to know
what happens if you don’t deal with a debt crisis ... and how it affects the
cost of living ... just go and ask the Greeks.
(Confirming the point)
So finishing the job
means sticking to our course until we’ve paid off all of Labour’s deficit, not
just some of it.
And yes – let’s run a
surplus so that this time we fix the roof when the sun is shining ( allude to
commonsense proverb and link to previous speaker’s points) ... as George said
in that brilliant speech on Monday.
To abandon deficit
reduction now would throw away all the progress we’ve made.
It would put us back to
square one.
Unbelievably, that’s
exactly what Labour now want to do.
How did they get us
into this mess?
(Patterns of three)
(1)Too much spending,
(2) too much borrowing, (3) too much debt.
And what did they
propose last week?
(Balancing pattern of
three )
(1)More spending,(2)
more borrowing,(3) more debt.
They have learned
nothing – literally nothing – from the crisis they created.
But finishing the job
is about more than clearing up the mess we were left.
It means building
something better in its place.
(Pattern of three)
(1)In place of the casino
economy, one where people who work hard can actually get on.
(2)In place of the welfare
society, one where no individual is written off.
(3)In place of the broken education
system, one that gives every child the chance to rise up and succeed.
Our economy, our
society, welfare, schools … all reformed, all rebuilt – with one aim, one
mission in mind:
To make this country,
at long last and for the first time ever, a land of opportunity for all.
For all.
So it makes no
difference whether you live in the North or in the South, whether you’re
black or you’re white, a man or a woman, the school you went to, the background
you have, who your parents were … what matters is the effort you put in, and if
you put the effort in you’ll have the chance to make it.
That’s what the land of opportunity means. ( Repeat
the vision)
That’s what finishing
the job means.
Of course I know that
others in politics may talk about these things.
But wishing for
something, caring about something – that’s not enough.
You can’t conjure up a
dynamic economy, a strong society, fantastic schools all with the stroke of a
minister’s pen.
(Pattern of three)
It takes a mixture of
(1) hard
work, (2) common sense and – above all – (3)the right values.
When the left say: you
can’t expect too much from the poorest kids; don’t ask too much from people on
welfare; business is the problem, not the solution … Here in this party we say:
that’s just wrong.
If you expect nothing
of people that does nothing for them.
Yes, you must help
people – but you help people by putting up ladders that they can climb through
their own efforts.
(Use of parallelism
e.g. you don’t do this …but you dodo this))
(1)You don’t help children
succeed by dumbing down education … you help them by pushing them hard.
Good education is not
about equality of outcomes but bringing the best out of every single child.
(2)You don’t help people by
leaving them stuck on welfare … but by helping them stand on their own two
feet.
Why? Because the best
way out of poverty is work – and the dignity that brings.
We know that profit,
wealth creation, tax cuts, enterprise ... these are not dirty, elitist words –
they’re not the problem ... they really are the solution because it’s not
government that creates jobs, it’s businesses … it’s businesses that get wages
in people’s pockets, food on their tables, hope for their families and success
for our country.
( Repeating the Mission)
There is no shortcut to
a land
of opportunity. No quick fix. No easy way to do it.
(Pattern of three)
You build it (1)
business by business,(2) school by school,(3) person by person …
[Alliterative threes]
(1) patiently, (2)practically, (3) painstakingly.
And underpinning it all
is that deep, instinctive belief that if you trust people and give them the
tools, they will succeed.
( Pattern of three
followed by a parallel This fact not
that fact)
This party at its heart
is about big people, strong communities, responsible businesses, a bigger
society – not a bigger state.
It’s how we’ve been
clearing up the mess.
And it’s how we’re
going to build something better in its place.
So let’s stick with it
and finish the job we’ve started.
ECONOMY
(Mission repeated)
A land
of opportunity starts in our economy.
(Pattern of three)
The chance (1)to get a decent job. (2)To start a
business. (3)To own a home.
And at the end of it
all – more money in your pocket.
To get decent jobs for
people, you’ve got to recognise some fundamental economic facts.
We are in a global race
today. No one owes us a living.
Last week, our ambition
to compete in the global race was airily dismissed as a race to the bottom ...
that it means competing with China
on sweatshops and India
on low wages.
(pattern of three)
No – those countries
are becoming our customers … and we’ve got to compete with (1) California on innovation; (2) Germany
on high-end manufacturing; (3) Asia on finance
and technology.
And here’s something
else you need to recognise about this race.
The plain fact is this.
All those global
companies that employ lots of people – they can set up anywhere in the world.
(Pattern of three)
They could go to (1) Silicon Valley. To (2)Berlin.
And yes, here in (3) Manchester.
And these companies
base their decisions on some simple things: like the tax rates in each country.
So if those taxes are
higher here than elsewhere, they don’t come here.
And if they don’t come
here, we don’t get those jobs.
Do you get that,
Labour?
British people don’t
get those jobs.
Last week Labour
proposed to put up corporation tax on our biggest and most successful
employers.
(Pattern of three)
That is just about the (1)most
damaging, (2)nonsensical, (3) twisted economic policy you could possibly come
up with.
I get to visit some
amazing factories in my job.
( Shared experience
story)
One of my favourites is
Jaguar Land Rover ... not just because they actually let me get in a car and
drive it around on my own ... but really because I get to meet people there who
are incredibly proud of their work and their craftsmanship ... the fact that
what they’re making sells around the world – the best of British design and
engineering.
So when Ed Miliband
talks about the face of big business,
I think about the faces of these
hardworking people.
Labour is saying to
their employers: “we want to put up your taxes … don’t come here – stick your
jobs and take them elsewhere”.
I know that bashing
business might play to a Labour audience.
But it’s crazy for our
country.
So if Labour’s plan for
jobs is to attack business – ours is to back business.
Regulation – down.
Taxes – cut for businesses large and small. A new industrial policy that looks
to the future –
(Pattern of three)
(1)
green jobs,(2) aerospace jobs,(3) life science jobs.
(Factual attention
getter)
We’ve made a good
start: 1.4 million new jobs created in our private sector since we came to
office ... and that is 1.4 million reasons to finish the job we’ve started.
( Mission repeated)
In a
land of opportunity, it’s easier to start your own business.
To all those people who
strike out on their own, who sit there night after night ... checking and
double checking whether the numbers stack up ... I say I have so much respect
for you – you are national heroes.
( personal / human
story)
I’ll never forget
watching Samantha do just that – winning her first customer, sorting out the
cash flow, that magic moment when she got her first business cards printed.
I was incredibly proud
of her then – and I am incredibly proud of her now.
People setting up new
businesses need finance – that’s why we’ve brought in Start-up Loans.
( Factual attention
getters numbers, percentages, dimensions etc)
They need their taxes
cut – and we’re doing it up to £2000 off your National Insurance bill
for every small business.
And it’s working.
Let me tell you how
many businesses have started up in Britain since the election: over
300,000 … that is 300,000 more reasons to finish the job we’ve started.
In a land of
opportunity, more people must be able to own a home of their own.
( Familiar Quotes /
sayings)
You know that old
saying, your home is your castle?
Well for most young
people today, their home is their landlord’s.
( Pun on the letter
‘Y’ and Why This could be adapted to customer / user segments Gen X Gen Y etc)
Generation Y is starting to become Generation
Why Do We Bother?
Millions of them stuck
renting when they’re desperate to buy.
( Use of story to
illustrate a point)
I met a couple on
Sunday – Emily and James.
They’d both had decent
jobs, but because they didn’t have rich parents, they couldn’t get a big enough
deposit to buy a house.
And let me tell you
where I met them.
In their new home,
bought with our Help to Buy mortgage scheme.
It was still half built
… but they showed me where the kitchen would be.
Outside there was
rubble all over the ground, but they’d already bought a lawnmower.
And they talked about
how excited they were to be spending a first Christmas in a home of their own.
That is what we’re
about … and this, the party of aspiration is going to finish the job we’ve
started.
In a land of
opportunity there’s another thing people need … the most important thing of all
… more money in their pockets.
These have been
difficult years.
People have found it
hard to make ends meet.
That’s why we’ve frozen
council tax … and why we are freezing fuel duty.
But we need to do more.
I know that.
We’ve heard Labour’s
ideas to help with the cost of living.
Taxes on banks they
want to spend ten times over.
Promising free
childcare – then saying that actually, you’ve got to pay for it.
An energy promise they
admitted 24 hours later they might not be able to keep.
It’s all sticking
plasters and quick fixes ... cobbled together for the TV cameras.
Red Ed and his Blue
Peter economy.
To raise living
standards in the long-term, you need to do some major things: you need to cut the
deficit to keep mortgage rates low ... you need to grow your economy, get
people jobs ... and yes – cut people’s taxes.
I want people to keep
more of their money.
(Facts and figures)
We’ve already cut the
taxes of 25 million hardworking people ... and yes – that is 25 million more
reasons to finish the job we’ve started.
We’re Tories. We
believe in low taxes. And believe me – we will keep on cutting the taxes of hardworking people. (reiterate your
conference theme)
NORTH SOUTH
And here in Manchester let me say
this: when I say a land of opportunity for all I mean everyone – North and
South.
This country has been
too London-centric for far too long.
That’s why we need a
new North-South railway line.
The fact is this.
The West Coast mainline
is almost full.
We have to build a new
railway … and the choice is between another old-style Victorian one – or a high
speed one.
Just imagine if someone
had said, no, we can’t build the M1, or the Severn Bridge,
imagine how that would be hobbling our economy today.
HS2 is about bringing
North and South together in our national endeavour.
Because think of what
more we could do with the pistons firing in all parts of our country.
(Patterns of three)
With its wind and wave power, let’s make the Humber the centre of clean energy.
With its resources under the ground, let’s make
Blackpool the centre of Europe for the shale
gas industry.
With its brains and research centres, let’s make Manchester the world
leader in advanced materials.
We’re building an
economy for the North and South, embracing new technologies, producing things
and selling them to the world.
So make no mistake
who’s looking forward in British politics ... we’ll leave the 1970s-style
socialism to others ... we are the party of the future.
We’re making progress.
( Intriguing rhetorical
question)
You know how I know
that?
It’s every week, at Prime Minister’s
Questions.
There was a time when
I’d look across to Ed Balls, and there he was, shouting his head off, and doing
this with his hands – screaming out the economy was flat-lining … and all with
such glee.
But recently, it’s gone
a bit quiet.
Could it be because
there was no double dip and the economy’s now growing?
Well, I’ve got a
gesture of my own for Ed Balls … and don’t worry – it’s not a rude one …
(Pattern of three)
..(1) jobs are up … (2)construction
is up …(3) manufacturing is up ... inward investment … retail sales …
homebuilding ... business confidence … consumer confidence – all these things
are up.
And to anyone who wants
to talk our economy down, let me tell you this.
Since this conference
began, over 100,000 jet planes have soared into the sky on wings made in Britain.
Every single day in
this country, over 4,000 cars are coming off the production line – ready to be
exported around the globe.
(Factual attention
grabber)
Last year, Britain overtook France
as Germany's
top trading partner ... not bad for a nation of shopkeepers.
( Historical reference quote to Napoleon – Britain
a nation of shopkeepers)
And that’s the point.
( Examples a plenty and
repetition of positive e.g. Up repeated three times!)
Exports to China are up
… Exports to Brazil are up … exports to India, Russia,
Thailand, South Korea, Australia – all up.
So let us never forget
the cast-iron law of British politics ... Yes – the oceans can rise … and
empires can fall … but one thing will never, ever change … it’s Labour who
wreck our economy and it’s we Conservatives who clear it up.
EDUCATION
A land of opportunity
means educating our children – and I mean all our children.
It’s OK for the
children who have parents reading them stories every night – and that’s great …
but what about the ones at the back of the class, in the chaotic home, in the
home of the drug addict or alcoholic?
We need these children
– and frankly they need us.
That’s why three and a
half years ago, one man came into the Department of Education … Michael Gove, there he is ... with a
belief in excellence and massive energy ... like a cross between Mr Chips and
the Duracell bunny.
( analogy traditional
educational values and endurance)
Let’s look at the
results.
More students studying
proper science.
More children learning
a foreign language.
We’ve ended the dumbing
down in exams.
For the first time –
children in our schools will learn the new language of computer coding.
And we’re sending a
clear message to children: if you fail English and maths GCSE, you’re going to
have to take and retake them again until you pass.
Because as I tell my
own children – there’s not a job in the world where you don’t need to spell and
add up properly.
But ultimately – really
raising standards means innovation, choice … it means giving passionate people
the freedom to run our schools.
That’s what Free
Schools are all about.
( Story to illustrate)
I’ll never forget
sitting in the classroom at Perry Beeches III in Birmingham, on the first day of term this
year.
I met a mum there who
said to me – this is what I’ve dreamed of for my child ... proper uniforms,
high standards ... this is going to give my child a good start in life.
When Michael Howard
asked me what job I wanted in the Shadow cabinet I said education ... because
this is the kind of thing I came into politics to bring about.
You want to know
something totally extraordinary about free schools?
Labour’s official
policy is to be against them ... but – get this – Labour MPs are backing them
in their local area.
And not just any Labour
MPs.
I promise I’m not
making this up ... the Shadow Education Secretary – Stephen Twigg – has backed
one in his own city.
Unbelievable.
And isn’t that always the
way with the Left?
They don’t like
privilege – unless of course it’s for their own children.
Well we in this Party
are ambitious for all our children ... and we’ve got to finish the job we
started.
We’ve already got
technical colleges run by great companies like JCB ... I say: let’s have one of
those colleges in every single major town.
( Facts and figures)
We’ve had a million apprenticeships start with this
Government ... now we want a new expectation: as you leave school you have a
choice – go to university or do an apprenticeship.
And while we’ve still
got children leaving primary school not reading, writing and adding up properly
... let us set this ambition for our country: let’s eliminate illiteracy and
give every one of those children a chance.
And friends as we do
all this, we’re remembering the most vulnerable children of all.
There are thousands of
children every year who grow up in homes where nappies – and bedclothes – go
unchanged ... and where their cries of pain go unheard.
These children just
need the most basic opportunity of all: a loving family.
Two years ago I told
you about our determination to speed up adoption ... and this past year, we saw
record numbers finding permanent, loving homes.
4000 children adopted ... that is 4000 more reasons to finish
the job we’ve started.
And as we keep on with
this, we remember who is on the front line.
I have to make some
tough decisions in my job ... but none as tough as whether to break up a family
and rescue a child ... or try and stitch that family back together.
Social work is a noble
and vital calling.
(Personal story –
evidence of real experience)
I’ll never forget how
after my son Ivan was born, a social worker sat patiently in our kitchen and
told us about the sort of help we might need.
This Government has
helped get some of the brightest graduates into teaching ... and we have
pledged to do the same for social work ... now let us, in this hall, hear it
for Britain’s
social workers who are doing such an important job in our country today.
WELFARE
( reiterate mission)
The land of opportunity needs one final
thing: welfare that works.
We know how badly
things went wrong.
Our fellow citizens
working every hour of every day to put food on the table ask this: why should
my taxes go to
(Patterns of three)
(1)people who could
work but don’t?
Or to (2)those who live in homes that hardworking
people could never afford?
Or to (3) people who
have no right to be here in the first place?
I say this to the
British people: you have every right to be angry about a system that is unfair
and unjust – and that’s why we are sorting it out.
(Patterns of three)
(1)We’ve capped
welfare. (2) We’ve capped housing benefit. (3)We’ve insisted on new rules so
that if you reject work, you lose benefits.
And let’s be absolutely
clear.
As Boris said in that
great speech yesterday, the problems in our welfare system and the problems in
our immigration system are inextricably linked.
If we don’t get our
people back to work – we shouldn’t be surprised if millions want to come here
to work.
But we must act on
immigration directly too – and we are.
Capping immigration.
Clamping down on the bogus colleges.
And when the
Immigration Bill comes before Parliament, we will make sure some simple and
fair things, that should have always been the case, are now set in stone.
( If …then parallelism)
If you are not entitled to our free National Health Service, (If…then
– implied)you should pay for it.
If you have no right to be here, (If…then – implied)you cannot rent a flat
or a house. Not off the council, not off anyone else.
(When…then parallelism)
When you are a foreign prisoner fighting deportation, (When…then
implied)you should pay your own legal bills.
If you appeal – you
must do it from your own country, after you’ve been deported, not from here.
And on these huge,
national problems we are making progress.
Immigration has come
down.
On welfare: not only
are there more people in work than ever before … the number of households where
no one works is at its lowest rate since records began … and I want to thank
the most determined champion for social justice this Party has ever had: Iain Duncan Smith.
Iain understands that
this isn’t about fixing systems, it’s about saving lives … and that’s why we’ve
got to finish the job we’ve started.
( Facts and Figures to
maintain attention)
There are still over a
million young people not in education, employment, or training.
Today it is still
possible to leave school, sign on, find a flat, start claiming housing benefit
and opt for a life on benefits.
It’s time for bold
action here.
We should ask, as we
write our next manifesto, if that option should really exist at all.
(Keep it Simple
Salesman KISS principle Go, Go, Do and Get)
Instead we should give
young people a clear, positive choice: Go
to school. Go to college. Do an apprenticeship. Get a job.
But just choose the
dole? We’ve got to offer them something better than that.
And let no one paint
ideas like this as callous.
Think about it: with
your children, would you dream of just leaving them to their own devices, not
getting a job, not training, nothing?
No – you’d nag and push
and guide and do anything to get them on their way … and so must we.
So this is what we want
to see: everyone under 25 – earning or
learning. ( rhyming slogan and phrases)
And you know – on this,
as on everything else, Labour will fight us … but remember: we are giving
people real opportunities.
(Use of quotes)
I’ve had people say to
me “I’m back on my feet” ... “I feel worthwhile.”
One wrote to me saying:
now I can tell my son his Dad really does something.
This is what our Party
is all about.
We don’t patronise
people, put a benefit cheque in their hand and pat them on the head.
We look people in the
eye as equals and say: yes, you’ve been down – but you’re not out … you can do
it, you have it in you, we will give you that chance.
And that’s why we can
say today that it’s this Party that is fighting for all those who were written
off by Labour … it’s this Party that’s for the many not the few … Yes – the
land of despair was Labour … but the land of hope is Tory.
We have done some big
things to transform Britain.
But we need to finish
the job we’ve started.
We need to go further,
do more for hardworking people ... give more children a chance, back more
businesses, help create more jobs.
And I’m clear about how
that job will best get done.
( Use of pattern of
threes plus telegraphed extra one – note the ‘and yes’ helps to spotlight the
killer point – in this case delivery ( Government) rather than promisises (
opposition)
It requires a strong
Government, with a clear mandate, that is accountable for what it promises and yes, what it delivers. And let me
tell everyone here what that means.
When the election
comes, we won’t be campaigning for a coalition ... we will be fighting heart
and soul for a majority Conservative Government – because that is what our
country needs.
CONCLUSION
You don’t do this job
to be popular.
You do it because you
love your country.
I do the best I can.
And for me, it comes back to some simple things.
(“ it comes back to me
“ is the signposting of the summary close of critical arguments of the speech.
This is more powerful than saying “ to conclude or to summarise” when audiences
tend to switch off)
( Pattern of threes)
(1)Country first. (2)
Do what’s decent. (3)Think long-term.
( Illustration of long
term thinking proverb ‘ from Little acorns mighty oaks grow’
Also resonates party
oak tree symbol and oak tree modified union flag )
( Story to illustrate
the proverb to get across the importance of planning and long term thinking)
There’s an old story that’s told about a great
hall in Oxford,
near my constituency.
For hundreds of years
it’s stood there – held up with vast oak beams.
In the 19th century,
those beams needed replacing.
And you know what they
found?
500 years before,
someone had thought … those beams will need replacing one day … so they planted
some oak trees.
( Telegraph to audience
to reflect on the point by ‘think about that”)
Just think about that.
(patterns of three then
link to reflection point)
1.
Centuries had passed …
2.
Columbus had reached America
…
3.
Gravity had been discovered … and when those oaks were needed,
they were ready.
( Use of quotation and
link back )
Margaret Thatcher once
said: “We are in the business of planting trees for our children and
grandchildren or we have no business being in politics at all.”
That is what we are
doing today.
( Use of proverb making
do and mending and then extending it to be contemporary)
Not just making do and
mending … but making something better.
Since I got to my feet,
almost a hundred children have been born across this country.
(A fact relating to
time and emotional – babies born particularly appeals to family and home
makers)
Children of wealth –
and children of none.
Children of parents in
work – and children of parents out of work.
For every single one of
those newborn babies let us pledge today that we will build something better …
a land of opportunity. ( reiteration of
mission)
A country built on that
enduring principle, seared in our hearts, that if you work hard, save, play by
the rules and do your fair share – then nothing should stand in your way.
(patterns of three)
(1) A new economy.
(2) A new welfare
system.
(3) A new set of values
in our schools.
Not just fixing the
mess we inherited – but building something better.
We’ve got a year and a
half ‘til that election ... a year and a half until Britain makes a choice:
move forward to something better or go back to something worse … but I believe
that if this party fights with all we have, then this country will make the
right choice.
Because we always have
before.
Whenever we’ve had the
choice of giving in to some shabby compromise or pushing forward to something
better we’ve said: this is Great
Britain … the improbable hero of history …
(Patterns of three)
(1) the country that
doesn’t give in, (2) that doesn’t give up … (3) that knows there’s no such
thing as destiny – only our determination to succeed.
So I look to our future
and I’m confident.
There are battles to
fight but beyond this hall are the millions of hardworking people who
renew the great in Great
Britain every day … in the way
(patterns of three)
(1)
they work and (2)the way they give and (3)raise their families.
(Final pattern of
threes preceding final repetition of mission )
These are the people we
have alongside us ... together we've
made it this far ... together we’ll
finish the job we’ve started ...
together we’ll build that land of opportunity.
