Speechwriting, Storytelling, and Rhetoric in Foreign Policy

Speechwriter Andrew Imbrie and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry work on a speech
Working on a keynote address with Secretary Kerry at the World Economic Forum

Andrew Imbrie has drafted speeches, articles, and opinion pieces for a U.S. secretary of state, two chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, ambassadors, entrepreneurs, advocates, and veterans. He has also designed and taught foreign policy speechwriting and rhetoric courses for graduate and undergraduate students at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and American University’s School of Public Affairs.

If interested in speechwriting advice, please visit the contact page.

Here are Andrew’s “10 Speechwriting Tips,” written originally forTwenty-five Year Apprenticeship.

Below are three podcasts that Andrew has done on speechwriting, storytelling, and the role of narrative in the making of U.S. foreign policy and transatlantic relations.


Episode #1: “How to Break Into Foreign Policy Speechwriting,” with Andrea Koppel, Time4Coffee podcast, April 21, 2020.

Episode #2: “What it’s like to be a Foreign Policy Speechwriter,” with Andrea Koppel, Time4Coffee podcast, May 26, 2020.

The Europe Desk, Making the Words Sing: Andrew Imbrie on Speechwriting and Rhetoric, October 29, 2019.