The Art of Speechwriting: from the White House to the Berlaymont

Speechwriters make us laugh, cry and touch our inner feelings but few of us even know their names. To mark the end of the party conferences in the UK, our host Tony Barber from the FT will meet three speechwriters from both sides of the Atlantic. President von der Leyen’s speechwriter Lorenzo Biondi will talk us through the process of drafting the State of the Union address, while Philip Collins - who held the same role for Tony Blair - will set out how to write a great political speech in the UK. Terry Szuplat, who served throughout Obama’s two terms in the White House, will look back at the President’s greatest hits, including his address in Cairo in 2009 which marked a reconciliation between the US and the Islamic world.
Produced by The Podcast Company.