FORMAT
offline, Kyiv
10 Dobrovolchykh Batalioniv St.
COURSE AUTHOR
Kateryna Lebedeva
A practical course for those who write, speak in public and manage communications
Strategic speechwriting: how to craft a speech that works
It’s beautifully written, but doesn’t quite convince?
Your speech contains plenty of important points, but is missing the key message?
Do you feel that the text ‘isn’t quite right’, but can’t explain why?
On this course, you’ll learn not just how to write powerful texts, but how to understand what the speaker needs to say, to whom and why – and how to turn that into a speech that works.
Real-life case studies from the Government, the Verkhovna Rada and the Office of the President, presented by the course author, Kateryna Lebedeva, and a guest speaker.
Programme author
Kateryna Lebedeva
Political communications specialist and speechwriter
Nearly 30 years’ experience in media and political communications: ten years in television journalism and 18 years in communications for the Government of Ukraine, the parliament, political parties and election campaigns.
Since 2022, she has been an adviser on strategic issues to the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. She is responsible for speeches, interviews and public positioning at national and international levels.
For 12 years, she headed the press office and digital division of one of Ukraine’s largest political parties. She served as communications director for presidential, parliamentary and local election campaigns. Previously, she worked in the press office of the Government of Ukraine.
During the course, she will present her own approach to speech writing and analyse real-life case studies from political and government communications.
Guest speaker
Special guest – a political consultant with 35 years’ experience across three countries. As an adviser and manager, he took part in four presidential campaigns between 1994 and 2019, and six parliamentary elections between 2002 and 2019. He served as a freelance adviser to the President of Ukraine, two Speakers of the Verkhovna Rada and three Prime Ministers.
Speechwriter for one of Ukraine’s Presidents.
During a special session of the course, he will analyse real-life case studies in presidential speechwriting: from the political objective and strategic message to the drafting of the speech text.
Who is this course for
- For public speakers
Politicians, civil servants, executives and business representatives who need to articulate their position clearly and persuade their audience.
- For writers
Speechwriters, advisers, press officers and members of communications teams who need a systematic approach to crafting speeches, from the initial brief to the final draft.
- For those responsible for communications
Managers and PR directors who need to set tasks effectively, assess texts professionally and understand exactly what needs to be changed.
The main principle of the course: don’t start your speech with a script!
Opening a blank document and starting to write straight away is the quickest route to a well-crafted speech that changes nothing.
Before you write, you need to understand:
What should the audience do, understand or feel after the speech?
What do they expect, what are they afraid of, and why might they be sceptical?
What exactly can this speaker say convincingly?
And only then should you look for the main idea, arguments and words.
Desired outcome → target audience → speaker → main idea → arguments → text
On this course, you’ll learn to follow this process deliberately and create speeches that deliver results.
On this course, you’ll be writing
You can’t learn speechwriting from theory alone. That’s why you’ll be working with texts all the time: analysing, writing, editing and looking for better solutions.
You’ll dissect strong and weak speeches, learning to identify why a text works or doesn’t work, and how it can be improved.
You’ll progress from simple exercises to more complex professional tasks — right up to situations where a speech has already been written, with just 20 minutes to go before delivery, and rewriting the whole thing is impossible.
Minimal theory
→ analysis
→ exercise
→ breakdown
→ more complex task
A free gift for every participant!
An original AI prompt for professional speech review
To analyse the text, identify weaknesses and understand exactly what needs changing.
A clear algorithm instead of ‘something’s not quite right’
After the course, you will be able to:
- identify the desired outcome of a speech;
- identify the main idea and structure the entire text around it;
- select arguments that will persuade this particular audience;
- write a speech that sounds natural coming from a specific speaker;
- build a speech structure that guides the audience to the desired conclusion;
- identify the weaknesses in a finished text and explain precisely what needs to be changed.
You will be able to create an effective speech yourself or professionally set tasks for a speaker and evaluate the result.