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This book provides students, researchers, and practitioners of speechwriting with a unique insight in the theory, history, and practice of speechwriting. The combination of theory and practice with case studies from the United States and Europe makes this volume the first of its kind. The book offers an overview of the existing research and theory, analysing how speeches are written in political and public life, and paying attention to three central subjects of contemporary speechwriting: convincing characterization of the speaker, writing for the ear, and appealing with words to the eye. Chapters address the ethics and the functions of speechwriting in contemporary society and also deliver general instructions for the speechwriting process. This book is recommended reading for professional speechwriters wishing to expand their knowledge of the rhetorical and theoretical underpinnings of speechwriting, and enables students and aspiring speechwriters to gain an understanding of speechwriting as a profession.

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Chapter 1 Introduction: The Case for Speechwriting

Chapter 2 Speechmaking in the 21st Century

Chapter 3 The Beginning of Speechwriting

Chapter 4 Research and Theory on Speechwriting

Chapter 5 The Rhetorical Canons of Speechwriting

Chapter 6 Genres of Speechwriting

Chapter 7 How Speeches are Written

Chapter 8 Characterizing the Speaker

Chapter 9 Writing for the Ear

Chapter 10 Writing for the Eye: Pictures, Visions, and PowerPoint

Chapter 11 The Ethics of Speechwriting

Chapter 12 The Functions of Speechwriting in Contemporary Society

Chapter 13 The General Steps in the Speechwriting Process

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Jens E. Kjeldsen is Professor of Rhetoric and Visual Communication at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Amos Kiewe is Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University, USA.

Marie Lund is Associate Professor of Rhetoric at the Aarhus University, Denmark.

Jette Barnholdt Hansen (1966-2017) was Associate Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

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