The secrets of career success for speechwriters

Speechwriting is the apex of communications jobs. You interact with the top leaders of your organization—often intimately. You shape the thoughts and language that will move an organization and others. You’re paid well. Yet for all the glory, the speechwriter’s perch is precarious. It’s easy to be pigeonholed, with few on-ramps to other jobs. If you’re tight with a leader, what happens when that leader exits? And how do you keep speeches relevant in a 140-character world?

Rob Friedman has seen speechwriting from every angle for three decades and will share the secrets to a successful career, including:

The most important key to getting promoted (which most people know) and the second most important (which most people don’t know)

How to work with diverse clients, regardless of their differences—or how different they are from you

The most important career skill (and why it may not be speechwriting)

The person most essential for your success (it’s not who you think)

How to add value beyond speechwriting

How to stay fresh—and avoid burnout

Career killers to avoid