The Cambridge Speechwriters’ & Business Communicators’ Conference

You’re invited to the 23rd European Speechwriter Network Conference.

Why attend?

This conference is for anyone wanting to learn from leading lights in the world of speechwriting.

And for people eager to share their experience with their peers.

Corporate, Government and financial cultures need imagination to communicate.

That’s why they hire talented writers to connect with the wider public.

If you have to script speeches, Tweets, blogs, op-eds, video scripts or presentations within your organisation, you’ll know how hard it can be.

We’ve had speakers who have written for President Obama, David Cameron and Angela Merkel.

We’ve heard from people working at BP, the Bundesbank and the European Commission.

The former Prime Minister of Finland came to share his views on speechwriting with us.

The European Speechwriter Network has pioneered a format where we listen to top speechwriters, leaders and experts talk about their work.

Our conferences expand your confidence, expertise and insight.

You’ll get instruction, ideas and inspiration from our speakers and trainers.

We welcome advanced writers, beginners and those interested in developing skills for the future.

We can learn to flourish within challenging environments.

We hear from our counterparts in foreign Governments, corporations and related professions

In a globalised world, our most valuable expertise is effective communication in English with multinational audiences.

That’s why we put on a multinational conference.

From the moment you arrive in Cambridge, you’ll be invited to eat, drink and talk with your fellow delegates.

We stay in touch after the conference. Over the past 10 years we’ve built a community that keeps coming back.

Who should attend?

Previous conferences in Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, Helsinki and Berlin have attracted writers from four Prime Ministers’ offices, the European Commission, NATO, Airbus, BMW, IBM, the CBI, Orange, Deloitte, the United Nations, the European Investment Bank, Coca Cola as well as the Dutch, Danish and British civil service.

While the conference is predominantly in English, the techniques will be transferable to other languages.

The benefits

• Acquire techniques used in the White House, European institutions and and in numerous government and multinational offices around Europe
• Get insights into rhetoric from top writers
• Listen to outstanding writers tell their stories
• Have your own work analysed in interactive sessions with top trainers
• Meet fellow professionals from the Europe and the rest of the world

Programme

TBA

DAY 1

Pre-conference Training

Wednesday 17 April – Delegates can choose from three pre-conference training workshops

• Sarada Peri – Modern Speechwriting – With A White House Guide
• Larry McEnerney – American Rhetoric – How Political Ideology Translates into Speechwriting
• Renée Broekmeulen & Matt Greenough – Popular not populist – How the Bad can reveal the Good

DAY 2

Full Conference

Thursday 18 April – Conference takes place in the William Mong Hall.

10am – 4.30pm

Speakers include: Daniel Sacker, Helle Snelligen,

7.30pm – Conference Banquet

Enjoy a three-course banquet in Sidney Sussex College dining hall with wine.

You will have the chance to take part in our speaking competition for the Fred Metcalf Memorial Trophy

DAY 3

Conference Continues

Friday 19 April – 10am – 12.30pm

Speakers include: Michel Reinders, Sindre Weber, Sarada Peri

Official Conference Close – 12.30pm

1pm – Optional lunch

What you will leave with

• A better understanding of your counterparts
• Insights on how to work with multilingual audiences
• Tips for managing your speakers
• Strategies for dealing with interpreters
• New contacts, ideas and perspectives on the trade

Pre-Conference Trainers

Sarada Peri

Sarada was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama. Prior to joining the White House, she was a Principal at West Wing Writers. She was also a member of the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Convention speechwriting teams. Today she runs her own firm, Peri Communications, where she helps C-suite executives, non-profit leaders, philanthropists, and politicians with speechwriting, speech delivery, message strategy, and more. Sarada also writes under her own byline, and has been published in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and other outlets.

A recovering policy wonk, Sarada worked in the U.S. Senate as a health care and education legislative staffer. She started her career as a high school English teacher in New Orleans through Teach for America, and is a graduate of Tufts University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Larry McEnerney

Former director of the Writing Program at University of Chicago.

Renée Broekmeulen & Matt Greenough

Matt provides speechwriting support to the United Nations and other international organisations through his communications consultancy, Words Matter Ltd.

He also provides training and coaching to new and experienced speechwriters and comms professionals in Westminster, Wales and right around the world. He has years of experience in frontline politics, and government and worked as Chief Special Adviser in the Welsh Government. He also provided speechwriting support to Keir Starmer in his successful campaign to become Labour leader.

Renée is speechwriter, author and trainer based in The Hague. Her book De Speechschrijver came out in 2022. It summarised the wisdom she accumulated working for over two decades as a
speechwriter in the Netherlands. She has trained hundreds of Dutch professional speechwriters who now write for politicians, managers, mayors and CEO’s.

Renée is also one of the driving forces behind the active Dutch network ‘t Doode Paerdt and her own speechwriting clients include cabinet ministers and media magnates.

Speakers

Sindre Weber

Sindre is a former speechwriter in the Norwegian Ministry of Defence.

John Zimmer

John has worked for a major Canadian law firm, the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. He also teaches public speaking in the Executive Programmes at the University of Geneva, University of Lausanne and IESE in Barcelona.

He will be talking about how to overcome the linguistic challenges of multilingual audiences and multilingual speakers.

Hossam Hussein Ismail

Hossam is an Egyptian diplomat, specialising in speechwriting. He is going to speak to us about how Arabic speeches work.

Daniel Sacker

Dan joined Milltown Partners in March 2022 to work on the firm’s leadership and private client advisory work after over a decade serving as a senior adviser to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (Chief Rabbi of the UK and Commonwealth) and as Co-Director of The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust. Before that, he worked at Weber Shandwick Public Affairs, advising a range of public and private sector clients. Dan holds a B.A. in Politics and Modern History from Manchester University and an M.A. in Political Management from The George Washington University (Washington D.C.).

Helle Snelligen

Helle is a special advisor at the Central Bank in Norway. She studied math and physics at the University of Oslo for two years but absconded to Paris where she studied conference interpreting at the Sorbonne. She has worked for the European Parliament, Council and Commission, the OECD, the United Nations, European Court of Justice (ECJ), Brigitte Bardot Foundation, L’Elysée and le Quai d’Orsay. Freelance conference interpreter, translator, pre-editor, post-editor, speech revisor: Helle has been active in all these areas for the past 35 years, and the subjects of the speeches she has either interpreted live or translated/crafted have spanned themes as varying as A Just War (Nobel Peace Prize Lecture by President Obama) to the physiological effects of deep sea diving

Michel Reinders

Michel, PhD, somehow succeeded not to write a single article about finance during the years he worked as a journalist for a Dutch newspaper (Algemeen Dagblad) in the early 00s. Later, he went on to dabble in science (carefully avoiding anything related to statistics), write books (without graphs, figures or tables) and advise ministers (not once using the words:’as our budget shows’). Now, he works as a speechwriter for Shell.

Guy Doza

Guy is an author, speechwriter, and TEDx speaker. He has a degree in education from Cambridge and a Masters in rhetoric from Royal Holloway. He has worked for members of both The House of Commons and The House of Lords. He’s run his own speechwriting consultancy and been a leading member of the European Speechwriter Network for ten years.

Outside of Parliament, he’s worked with numerous companies ranging from BP to the BBC. Beyond the UK, he’s worked as consultant to a range of governments across Europe and Central Asia.

Guy won awards for speaking at Toastmasters International. In 2019, he was invited to give a TEDxTalk at the University of Cambridge about how rhetoric influences the decisions that shape our lives. He has also lectured at Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Caltech.

The speakers advertised on the programme have agreed to speak at the conference. From time to time cancellations may arise. We always try to find appropriate replacements.

Clip from Last Year’s Conference in Oxford

Invoices

For an Early-Bird Residential Pre-Conference Training + Conference Pass (Wed, Thu & Fri), the cost is £1599 + VAT. For other prices please press the ‘Tickets’ button to pay by credit card through Eventbrite.

If you prefer for us to send you an invoice instead of paying through Eventbrite, please send an email and we will send you one.  If you need to separate the costs into two invoices – one for training, the other for accommodation, we’re happy to do that. Just email and ask.

Cancellation Policy

If you can’t make any of our conferences, we’ll do our best to transfer your payment to a future conference. It’s not in our interests to disappoint you in any way.

Bookings will not be accepted unless accompanied by payment and cancellations must be received no later than one month (28 days) before the conference if a full refund is to be given.

Cancellations received within 2 to 4 weeks of the first date of conference will be refunded 50%. No refunds will be given for cancellations made within 14 days.

However, we prefer to discuss transferring your ticket to a future conference in the event that you can’t attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

Get to Cambridge

Air

London Stansted Airport

This is the closest major airport, about 25 miles from Cambridge (40 minutes by car). It is well served by airlines flying from European destinations. For flight information try the BAA Stansted website or contact the airlines directly (budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair operate direct flights to Stansted from many European airports).

London Heathrow Airport

Many airlines fly to London Heathrow. The easiest way to get to Cambridge is to take a direct coach service. The coach runs at least once per hour, see the National Express website and takes at least 2.5 hours to reach Cambridge (often much longer, depending on traffic jams).

Train

There are regular train services from London to Cambridge departing from London King’s Cross or London Liverpool Street. For timetable, fares and to plan your train journey from London to Cambridge, see the National Rail website. If you are travelling from Europe, you can catch the Eurostar and King’s Cross station is a short walk from St Pancras.

By Coach

National Express operates coaches from London to Cambridge.

Accommodation

We recommend you take rooms in Sidney Sussex College to maximise your enjoyment of the conference.

Students

There are a limited number of places available at a discount to people in full-time education who are considering a career in speechwriting. Details on application.

Join our Network

Membership of the UK Speechwriters’ Guild or European Speechwriter Network entitles you to a £50 discount on the conference fee.

You can follow the European Speechwriter Network on Twitter @EUSpeechwriters

You can apply to join our Linkedin group, European Speechwriter Network