Speechwriting, from the Start

I don’t know about you, but I get a lotof young people asking me how to break into speechwriting. 

I often ask them why they want to—and how badly.

From now on, I’m going to start out the conversation by sending them this lovely video produced by the U.K. Speechwriter’s Guild.

In it, former Obama speechwriter Stephen Krupin, former Sarah Palin scribe Lindsay Hayes and David Cameron ghost Jessica Cuniffe tell how they made it to the bigtime in the business—and what inspired them to try.

Along the way, the three give a sufficiently realistic view of the strangeness and stresses of the job to discourage some viewers from pursuing speechwriting further—and enough of a happy ending to spur the live ones on.

“It is a great honor,” Krupin concludes, “to be able to speak on behalf of your country and to help someone who you believe in articulate the deepest truths that need to be said at that moment.” —DM