Terry Szuplat is a sought-after speaker and trainer whose keynote presentations and workshops empower audiences with the communication skills he learned as a White House speechwriter during the eight years of Barack Obama’ s presidency. From 2009 to 2017, he served as a special assistant to the president and as a member of the National Security Council staff, and from 2013 to 2017 he was the deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office. Today Terry runs his own speechwriting firm, Global Voices Communications; his essays have appeared in major publications, including the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and the Washington Post; and he teaches speechwriting at his alma mater, American University’ s School of Public Affairs. Originally from East Falmouth, Massachusetts, he now lives outside Washington, D. C. , with his wife and two children.