Ask a political speechwriter

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
"Ahead of President Joe Biden’s third State of the Union Address, his speechwriting team spent weeks writing and revising the speech, incorporating feedback from different offices across the administration.

Understandable – considering the address typically garners the president’s largest television audience each year.

But this detailed, coordinated effort isn’t just for major speeches, like the State of the Union.

It’s easy to forget that for every speech delivered by political figures in Washington, a person – or more likely a team of people – put their minds and pens together to write it.

What exactly goes into crafting the perfect speech? And in an increasingly polarized political landscape, how is the role of speech shifting?

We pose your questions to a panel of political speechwriters"

Some people can be particularly difficult to write for