Former Obama speechwriters Cody Keenan and Terry Szuplat opened the 2025 Legal Marketing Association (LMA) Annual Conference (#LMA25) with a keynote that brought this attendee to her feet once or twice. Moderated masterfully by Katie Munroe, Chief Marketing Officer at Zuckerman Spaeder and Co-Chair of this year’s Annual Conference Advisory Committee (ACAC), the session delivered powerful lessons on storytelling, leadership, crisis communications, and standing firm in your values, especially when the pressure is on.
I posted a shorter overview on LinkedIn, but what follows is a more in-depth look at Cody and Terry’s full keynote.
Setting the Stage: Background and Books
Cody Keenan served as Director of Speechwriting for President Barack Obama, helping shape some of the most memorable moments of his presidency. Today, Cody is a professor at Northwestern University and the author of Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America, a narrative built around 10 extraordinary days in June 2015, spanning the Charleston church shooting, landmark Supreme Court rulings, and President Obama’s moving eulogy in Charleston where he sang “Amazing Grace.”
Terry Szuplat served as a Senior Speechwriter and Special Assistant to the President, focusing on foreign policy and national security. He is now a speechwriting professor at American University and the author of Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience, a guide to public speaking based on lessons learned firsthand while working with President Obama.
Together, they shared valuable lessons about leadership communication, authenticity, and the importance of staying true to your values; lessons that resonate deeply in today’s uncertain landscape.
Finding the Voice of Leadership
When asked how to write authentically for someone else, Cody advised that authentic speechwriting starts with building trust.
“Spend time with the person. Bring them into meetings. Learn how they see the world, not just what they want to say but why they want to say it.”
Terry reinforced the point, warning that if leaders do not invest time with their communications teams, they should not expect their voices to be accurately reflected.
“If the most powerful person in the world could sit down with his speechwriters every day, so can the head of a law firm.”
Terry echoed the need for leaders to invest time with their communications teams:
“That ten minutes of guidance up front can save hours of work on the back end.”
Both warned against the “filter effect,” meaning that too many intermediaries can exist between a leader and the person writing their message, resulting in generic and lifeless communication.
Talk Like a Human: Battling Legalese
A major theme was the importance of sounding human, especially in professional environments.
Some of the biggest laughs came when Cody and Terry described their battles with lawyers over legalistic language.
One example: The lawyers wanted to replace the word “Americans” with “U.S. persons” in a presidential speech.
Another: A simple and powerful phrase like “We won” was changed to “We achieved a favorable result.”
Terry reminded everyone:
“A press release is not a legal brief. A speech is not a legal brief. People want to hear language that sounds real and human.”
Cody added that even artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT can mimic boring press releases because they all sound the same.
He shared:
“Press releases are so boring because they sound like every other press release.”
Their bottom line:
- Speak plainly.
- Use stories.
- Inject humanity into everything you write.
Storytelling That Resonates
When asked how they approached unfamiliar topics, both emphasized the lasting power of stories. Szuplat reminded the audience:
“People remember the story, not the statistics.”
Even in technical, “serious” settings, they encouraged finding human narratives that connect audiences to complex issues.
Terry shared that when President Obama devoted the end of a State of the Union address to the story of Army Ranger Cory Remsburg, the entire nation remembered that story more vividly than any policy announcement.
When the time came to cut speeches down, it was never the stories that were deleted. It was always the data.
Handling Criticism and Feedback
They both discussed the emotional challenge of receiving edits to their work, especially late in the process.
Terry Szuplat stressed the importance of humility:
“Sometimes the most interesting edits come from the most unlikely people.”
Over time, they learned to stay open to feedback, even from unexpected sources. Junior team members sometimes spotted important issues that saved a speech from disaster.
They urged leaders to value feedback from unexpected sources, especially junior team members who often identify issues that others miss.
Cody shared a memorable lesson when President Obama encouraged him to leave room for silence in speeches. One day, prior to The State of the Union Address, Cody was called in to meet with President Obama, who told him that the speech was a 10; in fact, full of lines that were all 10s, which left no room for the audience to pause, breathe, and reflect. It was wonderful, all true, but potentially exhausting (my word, not his).
Cody said President Obama taught him the [Jazz musician] “Miles Davis Rule”:
“What made Miles Davis so great was the notes you don’t play.”
In other words, the moments of silence, or even statements that weren’t so powerful to be rated a 10.
In speechwriting and leadership, it’s not about cramming in everything. It is about the pacing, the silences, and the space you create for ideas to land with your audience.
Crisis Communication: Remember Who You Are
In a moving portion of the keynote, Terry offered this advice for firms facing today’s turbulent environment:
“In moments of crisis, keep coming back to who you are, what your values are, what you stand for.”
Both speakers gave straightforward advice about communicating in these moments of crisis:
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Do not lose sight of who you are.
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Return to your first principles.
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Speak clearly about your values, even if it feels risky.
Terry urged firms to make decisions they can be proud of a year from now; an important reminder in a time when law firms are grappling with existential questions about their roles and responsibilities.
Cody added:
“Do not lose the forest for the trees. This is about something bigger. It is about the rule of law.”
Tell the Truth, Even When It Is Hard
Terry discussed the importance of addressing the “elephants in the room” directly. Trying to ignore them or using vague euphemisms only erodes trust.
He encouraged leaders to be honest about challenges and not to fall into the trap of “happy talk.”
President Obama, he noted, was always willing to speak about tensions and contradictions directly, using them as a foundation for deeper conversations.
How Firms and Lawyers Can Differentiate: Say What Only You Can Say
Both speakers challenged the audience to:
- Differentiate themselves with authenticity.
- Speak plainly, avoiding jargon and, as above, “happy talk.”
- Always prioritize truth, even when it is uncomfortable.
Terry challenged the audience with a pointed question:
What can you say that nobody else can? Say what only you can say.
He advised firms to use the word “only” as a test. If your website or messaging sounds like everyone else’s, it is not just a marketing problem; it is a mission problem. Your true differentiation must come through clearly and consistently.
Terry Szuplat summed it up perfectly:
“Every organization has something unique to say. Say it well.”
Favorite Speeches and Personal Moments?
Terry’s favorite was the speech after the Boston Marathon bombing. He wrote it thinking specifically about connecting with people like his Uncle Dan, a Bostonian who did not always share President Obama’s politics but later told him he approved of his message, which Terry considered a high compliment.
Cody’s favorites included the Selma anniversary speech and, on a lighter note, the celebration of the 2016 Chicago Cubs’ World Series win at the White House. Cody asked President Obama if he could Tweet from his account after the Cubs won The World Series. The President said “sure,” so he Tweeted an invitation to The White House because he wanted to make sure they visited during President Obama’s time in The White House, not President Trump’s.
Cody joked that he also wrote a 20-minute congratulatory speech for their visit to The White House, one of the longest celebratory speeches in White House history, and considered it some of his finest work. It even brought tears to many eyes.
Final Advice from the Keynote
The keynote closed with two powerful takeaways:
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Say only what you can say.
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Build your messaging around authentic values, empathy, and human connection.
Terry encouraged everyone to resist the temptation to think their stories were too ordinary to matter. Every individual, every firm, has a unique story worth telling, and that is what sets you apart.
This keynote session was a profound reminder of what truly matters in communications today: clarity, authenticity, and courage.
As Terry said:
“You may not know what happens tomorrow or next week, but if you constantly come back to who you are, what your values are, and what you stand for, you will be able to look back a year from now and be proud of what you said and did.”
This moment demands that we stay grounded in what is right, and that we use our voices to build trust, connection, and lasting impact.
About Nancy Myrland
Nancy Myrland is a Marketing and Business Development Advisor, specializing in Content, Social & Digital Media. She helps lawyers grow their practices by integrating the most important marketing practices to build their reputations and their relationships, which leads to building their practices.
Highly regarded internationally as a top independent* LinkedIn consultant, Nancy is a highly respected LinkedIn trainer and content marketing specialist. She helps lawyers, law firms, and legal marketers learn and implement content, social, and digital media strategies that cut through the clutter, making them more relevant to their current and potential clients.
She is also a personal branding speaker, trainer, and advisor, helping legal and business professionals understand the importance and the impact of defining and reinforcing their personal brand.
Nancy is also the founder of the hybrid self-study and online course about LinkedIn, The LinkedIn Course*, which is a course where she personally guides lawyers through the sequential creation of their LinkedIn profile and presence.*
As an early and constant adopter of social and digital media and technology, she also helps firms with blogging, podcasting, video marketing, voice marketing, and livestreaming. Nancy also works with many firms and lawyers on Zoom and virtual presentation training and coaching to be the best they can be when presenting online.
She also helps lead select law firms through their online social and digital media strategy when handling high-stakes, high-profile cases and executive orders.
Long story short, Nancy spends a lot of time helping lawyers and legal marketers with:
- LinkedIn Profile and Presence
- Podcast Launches and Consulting
- Content Marketing
- Marketing and Business Development Plans
- AI Discernment
- Personal Branding, and
- Zoom and Virtual Presentation Training and Coaching
*Nancy is not an employee or consultant hired by LinkedIn, although she was named a LinkedIn Top Voice on the platform in 2024! Top Voices is an invitation-only program featuring a global group of experts on LinkedIn covering a range of topics across the professional world, helping members uncover valuable knowledge relevant to them. Top Voices was previously known as the Influencer program before October 2022. Top Voices are vetted to ensure that they meet high trust standards, are consistently active on the platform, and share valuable expertise through content that demonstrates their unique, original contributions to a topic.
The post #LMA25 Keynote Recap: Obama Speechwriters Deliver Lessons On Leadership, Authenticity, and Values appeared first on Nancy Myrland’s Legal Marketing Blog.