Forget the beef: Where are the speeches?

Feb 24, 2016

A question for press secretaries and presidential campaign managers of every political persuasion: Where are the speeches? Rather, where are the books of speeches – hundreds of pages of rhetorical …

The Speechwriter’s Life: Dr. David Corbin

Apr 10, 2016

For 16 years, historian Dr. David Corbin wrote speeches for US Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). Corbin’s loyalty to Senator Byrd over so many years isn’t hard to understand, once you realize …

The Speechwriter’s Life: Dr. David Niven

May 01, 2016

Whatever the outcome of this year’s presidential contest, speechwriter David Niven believes, we know one thing already—voters are taking more direct interest in the prospective candidates’ speeches than they have …

What I Learned from the West Wing Writers

Aug 29, 2018

As speechwriters, we want to sharpen our skills and learn from the best. And some of the best in the biz are the team at West Wing Writers. The firm, …

What will be Obama’s rhetorical legacy? Writerliness.

Jan 05, 2017

Writing in the current issue of N+1, George Blaustein offers a worthy socio-rhetorical analysis of President Obama’s speeches, concluding that on the one hand, “to take stock of Obaam’s speeches …

PR pros worry White House is hurting their rep

Jun 28, 2017

Seventy-three percent of PR professionals think “the current White House communications team is impacting the public perception of the industry,” according to a new study by University of Southern California’s …

The “H” in Abraham Stands for Communication

Jul 11, 2017

Excerpted from a speech delivered at the Rhetoric Society of Europe Conference, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, July 5, 2017 I was watching a series of videos called Torah …

Meanwhile, at the rhetoric conference …

Jun 13, 2018

I had a sister who studied composition and rhetoric. We talk much more now that she has switched to a field of study that has something to do with my …

Speechwriters, de-specialize!

Sep 04, 2018

Originally published here last New Year’s Eve, this commentary is increasingly relevant in light of a new book on Speechwriting in the Institutionalized Presidency, which chronicles the evolution of speechwriting toward …