Speechwriters Braintrust: Practical Secrets of Writing Amazing, Authentic Speeches

Shannon (Marshall) Marone is the public affairs manager at Brunswick Corporation. She has more than 20 years of communications and public affairs experience from a variety of roles in the corporate, nonprofit and agency environments. She joined Brunswick Corporation in 2007 managing internal communications for the company’s Mercury Marine division, later transitioning into a corporate public affairs role, where she currently manages Brunswick’s internal and external ESG communications strategies. Her previous experience is a roadmap of her life as a military spouse, and includes communications roles with PepsiCo, Marriott International, and the Monterey County, California, Convention and Visitors Bureau, among others. She graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in public relations and print journalism and currently lives in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with her husband and two kids.

David Levey has been a professional speechwriter over three decades, with public and private sector professional communications experience—at McDonald’s, United Way, as a columnist for Crain’s Business and at other publications before joining the Department of Commerce in 2006. He was the speechwriter for the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for 13 years, with additional communication experience at the Department of State, FBI and in the intelligence community.

Alexandra Robinson is a speechwriting professional working as a deputy speechwriter for Secretary Marty J. Walsh and Deputy Secretary Julie Su in the U.S. Department of Labor. Previously, she was press assistant to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck E. Schumer and staff assistant for U.S. Senator Corey A. Booker. She also worked as a speechwriter for the Tom Steyer 2020 Presidential Campaign, where she wrote speeches, created talking points and example questions for nationally televised debates and town halls, wrote multiple od-eds for the campaign that were published on CNN, The State and other local newspapers, assisted state communications departments with event needs and talking points, collaborated with advanced and scheduling team to orchestrate successful events on the ground for the candidate and worked with policy team to create informative and impactful policy rollouts.