Global Voices Communications

"The real chief speechwriter was always Barack Obama, whether it was the State of the Union or any other big speech," says Terry Szuplat, who helped craft nearly 500 Obama speeches between 2009-17. "There's so many items to be addressed that every speechwriter does their best to pull it together in a coherent narrative with a common theme that brings everything together, but it's just so difficult when you're talking about truly everything - a state of the union," the rhetorical handyman says.

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Terry Szuplat joins Tony Blair speechwriter Philip Collins and EU Commission speechwriter Lorenzo Biondo to discuss the similarities and differences of speechwriting in the U.S., UK and EU.

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Terry Szuplat shares how he crafts speeches, most notably for President Barack Obama, and how stories can influence and inspire people in even the darkest hours.

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Terence Szuplat, one of President Obama's two foreign policy speechwriters, discusses his journey from East Falmouth to the West Wing and what it was like to write for--and be edited by--Barack Obama.

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Terence Szuplat, former President Obama speechwriter and founder of Global Voices Communications, talks about the relationship between speechwriting and storytelling

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Terry Szuplat, a foreign policy speechwriter for former President Obama, said "It's important for the American people to understand who's responsible. Wars don’t start on their own. They’re started by people. This one was started by Vladimir Putin. He owns the death. He owns the destruction. And he owns the costs."

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Szuplat, who helped Obama’s head speechwriters Cody Keenan and Jon Favreau on several addresses, argued that although the president has a long list of items to address [in the State of the Union] including inflation, energy prices, and the Covid-19 pandemic, his biggest challenge is to explain why Ukraine matters for America.

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"An appreciation for the power of our example and our ideals as Americans was central to Obama’s presidency and it was central to his foreign policy," Szuplat said. "By virtue of his life and unique biography he had a real appreciation for the power of America’s story around the world."

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“If one of the great questions for the American people right now is ‘How do we get through this profound loss, can there be better days?’—who better to point the way than someone who has lived through the darkest moments any person can face?" said Szuplat. "I think it’ll be a huge element of his inauguration and of his presidency…. He might end up being the most perfect leader for this moment because of his life experience.”

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Please say a prayer for all the dedicated White House permanent staff — the butlers, the housekeepers, the janitors—being forced to work in a Covid hot zone. Their lives are being endangered so a weak, enfeebled man can pretend to be strong.

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