There is no doubt that Guyana is in need of talented speech writers and a new business, founded by Attorney-at-law Shakisa Harvey, has stepped into the breach.
Launched on July 31, Elesay Speech Writers provides an array of services, including professional speechwriting, copywriting, editing, proofreading and speech delivery coaching. Elesay is a sound out of the initials of Harvey’s 20-month-old daughter’s name, Lily Siela Adams (L S A).
Her love for writing began as a girl and while attending the Bishops’ High School, Harvey filled a book with poems. She has also started writing a novel, which she hopes to someday finish and have published. Her love for English Language and Literature was encouraged by her high school teacher, Ms Fung, and fuelled by her mother, who always encouraged her to read. Later, law lecturer Justice Duke Pollard became another influencer, as he instructed her and other colleagues to read and expand their vocabulary.
After high school. Harvey worked as a court reporter for Stabroek News before leaving to pursue law studies at the University of Guyana and later at the Hugh Wooding Law School. Her writing has since been restricted to mostly legal work, but this sparked a whole new interest for her as it relates to researching.
Harvey shared that the idea for the business was a spontaneous one, a light-bulb moment, in fact. She said that in watching television news broadcasts like Aljazeera, CNN and BBC, she became fascinated with their political coverage and how well the speeches reported on were executed. One day in May, she was sitting with her husband, sharing some of the ventures she wanted to undertake and wondering which of them she could begin immediately, when she joked that she could write speeches for politicians. “…And, my husband was like ‘Well, there you go, start with that’, and that’s what happened,” she said.
While she had the resources to begin immediately, she resolved to put more thought into it and decided that instead of running the business on her own, she would have a body of professionals assist with providing the services. It took some time to find the right people for her team, but as soon as she did, Elesay Speech Writers took off.
With Harvey as Founder and Director, Elesay’s team members are Director and Writer based in the US, Lindiwi Benjamin; Prudence Julien; who is Proofreader and Speech Coach; Writer Femi Harris; Shemuel Lewi, a Toastmasters Awardee and Speech Coach; Nicholas Roberts as Foreign Language Expert; and Barbados-based Leon George as Social Media Managing Expert.
Harvey shared that one of her hurdles was the thought of balancing being a full-time corporate lawyer, writing part-time and being a mother. As soon as these thoughts started creeping up, she reminded herself that she did all it took to graduate from Hugh Wooding Law School, endured a traumatic pregnancy and delivery, is a new mother in the throes of a global pandemic and therefore ready to take on anything.
She also wants to be an inspiration to her daughter in the years ahead. Her daughter, she said, should never think that her mother gave up on a dream before it came to fruition. So she chose to, “be the strength she needs and leave a legacy that she will be proud of,” Harvey said. She shared that once she realized this, there was no stopping her in establishing her business.
Part of getting Elesay underway was also launching the website. This was also another challenge. Using one of the free domains available on the internet, Harvey went about creating her website. The structure, format and layout were a lot of work but she got it done.
So far, the hardest part of the journey was getting started, Harvey said. Since the launch of the business, everything has been smooth sailing so far. The entrepreneur believes it is her team’s great communication and organization skills that have allowed Elesay to be operated so efficiently.
“I see us becoming bigger, getting more writers, getting more coaches, and getting more clients whose lives will be enriched by their interactions with us… We are here to sharpen their skills…,” said Harvey.
Within weeks of the launch, Elesay had clients sign up for speech coaching, which is currently being done online. Harvey is also trying to source a permanent venue for the sessions.
The range of speeches clients are assisted with is vast and includes both the social and professional realm: wedding vows and toasts, birthdays, dinners, eulogies, and valedictorian speeches, motivational speeches, keynote addresses, report presentations, charity and fundraising addresses, and corporate meeting addresses. It also assists with resumes, job interview preparations, conference materials, and press releases, among other things.
Harvey added that Elesay Speech Writers is strictly confidential, and will not further disclose its clients’ identities without their permission. “The whole point of our speech writing and our speech coaching is to elevate our clients to a point where they can represent themselves and sound like a natural, so people wouldn’t know they had help…,” she said.
She pointed out that confidentiality is important so that clients can feel comfortable in sharing their flaws knowing that they will not be judged by the public while Elesay helps them. “Like hey, they had to get Elesay to write their speech! Imagine a politician being exposed like that?” said Harvey. Confidentiality, she noted, is a big part of her life as an attorney-at-law.
Elesay’s website is https://elesaygy.wixsite.com/elesay. It is on Facebook as Elesay Speech Writers and can be contacted via email: elesaygy@gmail.com or by phone: 683-0084.
