Reflections of a White House Speech Writer

A talk by Clark S Judge on 11th April 2016.

What is the role a White House speech writer? How do you become one? What qualities do you need to do the job successfully? What influences determine the final shape of a speech?

Clark S. Judge was well qualified to answer these questions in his talk for students and lecturers, held jointly with Széchenyi István University, in Győr. Drawing on personal experience, Mr Judge explained how a political speech was crafted, and talked about the influence that a speech writer could bring to the policy making process.

M Judge had been speech writer and special assistant to both President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush, and a member of the Moscow summit speechwriting team in 1988. He helped shape the 1988 presidential campaign. He is founder and managing director of the White House Writers Group, which advises major corporations on their communications strategies. He is also a well known journalist, whose work has appeared in all major US newspapers, and who is frequently interviewed on leading US national broadcast and cable outlets.