How To Become A Speech Writer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a speech writer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Emily Griesinger Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a speech writer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.76 an hour? That's $61,897 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 22,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a speech writer?

Emily Griesinger Ph.D.

Professor of English, Azusa Pacific University

I would say "don't give up" because your literacy gifts are especially needed right now. Those who have done excellent critical thinking and writing as English majors can make persuasive arguments and discern the credibility of arguments being consumed by others, who may not be so discerning. Based on years of reading and interpreting great literature, you can "read" characters, why people do what they do, and the capacity to imagine the joys and sorrows of other human beings. So, my general advice would be to consider how to market such skills in creative ways for the common good.

ScoreSpeech WriterUS Average

Salary

4.8

Avg. Salary $61,897

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.35%

Black or African American 10.39%

Hispanic or Latino 12.25%

Unknown 5.12%

White 66.31%

Gender

female 36.62%

male 63.38%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a speech writer

Explore speech writer education requirements

Most common speech writer degrees

Bachelor's

74.3 %

Master's

18.8 %

Doctorate

3.5 %

Start to develop specific speech writer skills

Skills	Percentages
Executive Communications	13.36%
Strategic Communications	13.07%
Proofreading	10.76%
External Communications	9.44%
Blog Posts	7.84%

Complete relevant speech writer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New speech writers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a speech writer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real speech writer resumes.

Research speech writer duties and responsibilities

Maintain guest blogging strategy and policies to achieve a consistently diverse authorship and to grow readership.
Coordinate logistics management for signal elements, including securing training sites, movement of personnel, communications, and equipment.
Work closely with the senator and key staff members to develop editorial content for constituent and stakeholder communications.
Research and write executive level speeches, PowerPoint presentations and articles for global venues.

Get speech writer experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a speech writer. The most common roles before becoming a speech writer include reporter, internship team lead and editor.

Prepare your speech writer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your speech writer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a speech writer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable speech writer resume templates

Build a professional speech writer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your speech writer resume.