Beyond State of the Union: WH and Political Speechwriters on Public Speaking for Public Affairs

Mike Souder is a storyteller who values impact, public service and opportunities to elevate important voices. Most recently, he advised T.J. Smith’s Baltimore Mayoral Campaign and former Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) as both Deputy Communications Director in the U.S. House of Representatives and Deputy Press Secretary for Delaney for President. Prior to that, Mike was a speechwriting and messaging consultant to executives, public officials, startups and nonprofit CEOs, as well as the Manager of Government Affairs for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). His background also includes a role as Public Affairs Officer for Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), state and local lobbying on behalf of volunteer firefighters in Maryland, and involvement in dozens of political campaigns across the country.

Stephen Krupin served in the White House as a senior speechwriter to President Obama, in the State Department as chief speechwriter to Secretary John Kerry, on President Obama’s re-election campaign as director of speechwriting, and in the U.S. Senate as chief speechwriter to Majority Leader Harry Reid. Today he leads the Executive Communications practice at the public affairs and political consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker, partnering with CEOs, elected officials, and nonprofit advocates to help them achieve their strategic objectives from behind the podium and in front of the camera. He also teaches the graduate-level speechwriting course at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Desson Thomson writes speeches for Charles H. Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America. Thomson grew up in England, moving to the United States at 17. He attended American University, graduating with a degree in visual communications and cinema studies. He worked for 25 years at The Washington Post, first as a feature writer for the Style section before his longest tenure as the one of the newspaper’s longest-serving movie critics. After leaving the Post, he reinvented himself as a speechwriter in the administration of President Barack Obama. He has worked as a speechwriter for the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, the Policy Planning Office of the U.S. Department of State as a speechwriter for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an undersecretary of state and the secretary of commerce. A communicator on many levels, Thomson is also a longtime singer and songwriter, as well as a screenwriter and a fiction writer.