Fletcher Dean
Fletcher Dean is a speechwriter, author and executive communication strategist. Through more than 20 years of corporate experience, he has helped CEOs and senior leaders improve their credibility, reputation and business results by developing strategies, message platforms, and speeches that drive organizational goals. He has won four Gold Cicero Awards including the Grand Prize, is the author of 10 Steps to Writing a Vital Speech and a frequent speaker at speechwriting and communication conferences.

Isabelle Gaudeul-Ehrhart
How to grab the audience’s attention, engage in conversation, and win hearts and minds? These are the questions that have driven Isabelle Gaudeul-Ehrhart throughout her career from print journalism to speechwriter to the President of the European Commission. Today in the European Parliament’s Thinktank, where she has founded and leads the Speaking with impact community of practice, she helps speakers and leaders to speak with impact. She is the author of: Parler avec impact: découvrir, apprendre et maîtriser l’art du discours.

Jens E. Kjeldsen
Jens E. Kjeldsen is a professor of rhetoric at the University of Bergen, Norway. He has published extensively on rhetoric both in scientific journals and in popular news outlets and magazines. He is also a frequent commentator in the media. Among his many publications are the books Speechwriting in Theory and Practice and Rhetorical Audience Studies. For more than 20 years he has combined his work as a researcher with communication consultancy work, CEO-coaching, and given courses in rhetoric, speechwriting, and communication. Kjeldsen is the initiation and immediate past president of The Rhetoric Society of Europe, the founder and former chief editor of the research journal Rhetorica Scandinavia, and the founder and leader of “Seize the Word,” a national Norwegian speaking competition for young adults.

Robert A. Lehrman
Robert A. Lehrman served as Chief White House speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. He writes speeches for major political figures as well as corporate and nonprofit CEOs, and celebrities. He’s also written six books, including award-winning novels, and the highly-acclaimed Political Speechwriter’s Companion: A Guide for Writers and Speakers. Bob writes op-eds and magazine non-fiction under his own name, including six cover stories for The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Magazine. He talks frequently on radio and TV, gives workshops in the U.S. and other countries, founded and co-teaches political speechwriting at American University where his graduates write speeches for politicians on both sides of the aisle—and include one alum who won the Cicero Speechwriting Award in 2013.

Kell Jarner Rasmussen
Kell Jarner Rasmussen is CEO of Rhetor, a Danish firm that specializes in persuasive communication. Rasmussen has worked for more than a decade as a speechwriter and rhetorical adviser in corporate and government offices, as well as political organizations. He’s cofounder and former editor of Rhetorica Scandinavica, a scientific journal of rhetoric, and since 2001 he and his partners have held a yearly Danish speechwriting conference.

Dana Rubin
Dana Rubin is an award-winning former journalist and speechwriter who has written speeches for leaders at the highest levels of business, government, philanthropy, and higher education. Five years ago she founded the New York Speechwriter’s Roundtable, a forum for professional speechwriters to come together, share professional tips, and hear high-level speakers about speechwriting and communications.

Pete Weissman
An award-winning speechwriter and public speaker, Pete Weissman spent more than a dozen years helping leaders in the White House and United States Senate and writing for the CEO/Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company. In 2009, he launched his own firm, Thought Leader Communications, which establishes clients as Thought Leaders and helps corporations, foundations and associations achieve their business goals through creative and successful communications.