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.

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.

Eleonora Russell
Eleonora Russell is the Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Advisor to the Military Committee and International Military Staff at NATO. Which is a longwinded way of saying: she communicates about what is happening in the biggest and most successful political-military Alliance in the world. After working as the speechwriter for the President of the Dutch Senate, Eleonora spent the last 7 years writing for the military. First on the top national level, and now on the top NATO level. Eleonora won the Grand Award for the 2024 Cicero Speechwriting Awards.

Pete Weissman
Pete Weissman helps leaders make their words count. After serving as a West Wing aide and U.S. Senate speechwriter, Pete wrote for the Chair and CEO of Coca-Cola.  For the past 15 years, he’s served as a speechwriter, strategist, and coach to Fortune 100 leaders with a focus on thought leadership. Pete lives in Atlanta with his wife, two young children, and an unruly labradoodle named Toodles.