About
Great Speech Writing has private and business clients based all over the world. They range from senior people in the private and public sectors giving high profile speeches, presentations and pitches, to best men, fathers-of-the bride and nervous grooms worried about their wedding speeches.
We have a very simple purpose: to help clients around the world write, edit and deliver their speeches and presentations. We are lucky enough to have professional clients in parliaments from Brussels to Westminster and social clients performing in marquees from Bristol to West Lothian. But whoever the client and whatever the subject, our speech writing mantra is consistent: Keep it relevant, ensure it’s appropriate and make it original.
We’re happy to chat to anyone about a speech, whether you want us to write it from scratch, or just need a bit of advice. Wherever possible, we will try to help them create something simple, intelligent and original. We’ll never charge for a phone call and our discretion is assured.
Our Director:
Lawrence Bernstein. After graduating in History from Peterhouse, Cambridge, Lawrence became chained to a desk in the City. One night, he sat in a pub dictating a best man speech to a friend about to leave for a wedding in Vegas. The friend (Mark) suggested this might be a more enjoyable way of earning a living. It was a light bulb moment. The next morning, Lawrence placed an advert in Private Eye Magazine for a new speech writing service. Nine years later, he manages ‘Great Speech Writing’ and our small team of writers from our office in North London. He continues to write speeches in addition to helping clients build communication strategies. He stays involved in every part of the business, and remains true to his original promise that no speech is too big or too small. If you would like to contact Lawrence directly please email him.
Our team of writers:
Dolan Cummings is our senior speech writer. He has been writing and delivering speeches for years. His previous work has ranged from writing at the BBC to chairing public debates in London and elsewhere on everything from the arts to international politics. He admires speakers from Martin Luther King to Chris Rock. Dolan works on a huge range of speeches and corporate writing assignments. He has an extraordinary eye for complex detail and a knack of drawing the right information from clients in a short period of time!
David Elliott is an experienced writer, specialising in humorous speeches for weddings and after-dinner speakers. In addition to speech writing, he also writes comedy material for page, stage, and broadcast (including sketches, one-liners, and topical comedy prep), and is passionate about creating funny, engaging material for performers and non-performers alike. His short fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies over the years, and his satirical articles are regularly published by a variety of comedy websites.
Ben Timpson spent over 13 years in the armed forces as a strategic communications specialist and advisor to senior leadership teams around the world. He has a wealth of experience delivering communication campaigns in high pressure, politically complex circumstances. As a former spokesperson he also understands the unique pressures placed upon those tasked with speaking on behalf of an organisation – and what it takes to succeed. Alongside consultancy, Ben is also a speechwriter who loves nothing more than the challenge of winning over a difficult audience with a dry subject! When he’s not writing your speech, he can be found in the test match special box commentating on his favourite sport.
Ben Duncan-Duggal is a writer with range. He brings five years of experience in communications and politics, which has involved writing across a diverse range of formats and contexts. Ben’s produced speeches for Parliament and has ghostwritten articles for the Guardian, Times, Mirror, the Independent and elsewhere. He’s at home with everything from copy for your website to riotous best man’s speeches. In his spare time he can usually be found on the terraces at Selhurst Park watching his beloved Crystal Palace or with his nose in a book.
With a librarian for a grandfather and a lawyer for a father, Becca Stogdon‘s life was always going to be about words. An English degree at St Catherine’s College Oxford may have helped hone her writing skills, but she feels it’s understanding people and what makes them tick that make the difference when writing speeches. Becca prides herself on really listening to a client to be able to draw out their stories and write a speech for them in their own tone of voice.
When she’s not shaping words, she’s busy growing and buying flowers, designing events and delivering flower arrangements for weddings, parties, businesses and private homes all over the country.
Theo Eze is one of our senior speech writers and our resident web content specialist. Having studied English Literature and Creative Writing at University, he quickly developed a style perfectly pitched for speakers at events around the world. His range stretches from weddings, funerals and birthdays to TedX talks and corporate speeches.
Theo can write to make audiences laugh, cry, learn and feel inspired. The key is getting to know you and your audience as well as possible in a short period of time. He prides himself on his ability to communicate with and understand the needs of clients from all walks of life.
Theo has been instrumental in the growth of our copywriting service, providing web copy that’s as engaging as it is effective for a range of companies, from plucky, quirky start ups, to established industry leaders. He enjoys the challenge of making web copy readable and SEO friendly (no easy task!).
In his spare time he enjoys writing, recording and playing music, hiking the Peak District, watching anime and supporting his beloved Manchester United.
Will Howard is a creative writing graduate from North London. He is a playwright, theatre producer and arts writer who has worked for NME, Kerrang!, Songkick and FAITH Drama Productions over the past decade. Specialising in heartfelt, sincere speeches, Will’s empathetic, sensitive presence is hugely beneficial to nervous or emotional speakers. He also supports the client management team and may be the first voice you hear when calling us!
Anna O’Kennedy: It’s not always easy to find someone who can write, offer advice, coach and run projects. Then along came Anna! She previously worked as a business consultant and then a secondary school English teacher (and Head of Year). Together with her love of the written and spoken word, this enables her to work in every part of the business, from defining a company’s internal communication strategy to writing a speech for a Mother of the Bride. Anna is based in the office and loves a chat, so she may well be the first person you speak to on the phone.
Shahed is a writer, editor and journalist with work published across digital and print including in HuffPost, Vice, Stylist, and Cosmopolitan. If she’s not writing, then she’s probably reading! She specialises in simple, clear, elegant copywriting, ranging from short articles on fashion to 100,000 word technical training manuals.
Our trainer:
Alys Wallinger’s background is in both writing and acting for theatre, film and TV. As a writer, she trained under the prestigious Royal Court Young Writers’ Programme and Criterion New Writers’ Programme and has since written plays which have toured nationally to critical acclaim. As an actress, she was worked in the West End playing a range of interesting roles. She understands what it is to feel the pressure of performing and can empathise with those feeling nervous. Her experience has enabled her to learn key tools and tricks to manage nerves, channel pressure and deliver an optimum performance. As a Delivery coach Alys has worked with clients from a background of different sectors including: NGOs, Charities, Literary Festivals, Sporting agencies, Banking, Investment Management, Livery companies, Entrepreneurs, Marketing companies and Recruitment.
Our office managers:
Our client managers; Anna, Lauren, Tamsin and Sophie are likely to be your friendly first port of call when contacting us.
They liaise between our clients and writers, ensuring that you get what you want when you want it!
Katie Hedges joined us in 2014 and manages the accounts and runs our online projects. She previously worked for eleven years as an Account Manager at a German web agency and has an extraordinary eye for detail and impeccable calmness under pressure. She may be found at weekends playing tennis, watching football and baking banana cakes.
