It’s only then that I realize the order is wrong or I see that I’m repeating myself or I notice that certain passages could be combined. When I’m trying to figure out the structure of a speech, I’ll often print it out and cut it up with scissors so I can move parts around. Every paragraph should flow logically from one to the next. If you have a bad structure, you can’t have a good speech. If you’re giving a toast at your best friend’s wedding, you need to know if you can tell a story that’s a bit edgy or if their family will get offended. Obama was speaking at a university, for example, it was important to understand the history and student body of that university. Who are you talking to? What are they concerned about? Why are you speaking to them? How well do they know you? What’s the venue? If Mrs. She’s also a naturally gifted speaker and writer, so I’d transcribe as she talked, forming the basis of the first draft. Obama would be to sit down with her and ask, “What would you like to say?” She knows who she is, and she always knows what she wants to say. My first step when writing a speech for Mrs. The true art of speechwriting isn’t scripting someone-it’s channeling their voice. Here, Hurwitz shares 11 nuggets of speechwriting wisdom that she’s garnered along the way so that you can shine at your next public address, whether that be a televised political debate, a work presentation, or a toast at your best friend’s wedding. Eventually, she returned to the White House, serving as the head speechwriter for first lady Michelle Obama and as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama between 20. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she became the chief speechwriter for Hillary Rodham Clinton on her 2008 presidential campaign. “I still can’t imagine a better way to spend a career.”Īnd what an extraordinary career Hurwitz’s has been.

“Every day, his staff used words to move, inspire, comfort, and empower people,” she recalls. It was the summer of 1998, the end of her junior year of college, when Sarah Hurwitz fell in love with the art form of writing the perfect speech, having scored an internship at the White House in Vice President Al Gore’s speechwriting office.

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