Where a speechwriter can go next
5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a speechwriter already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Speechwriters research and write speeches on multiple topics. They need to catch and hold the interest of an audience. Speechwriters create presentations in a conversational tone so it looks like if the text was not scripted. They write in a comprehensible manner so the audience gets the message of the speech.
Also known as speech writer, speechwriting consultant, political speechwriter, ministerial speechwriter, speechwriting specialist, executive speechwriter, writer of speeches.
Professionals 26 skills on file 5 career moves 0 above 60% overlap Closest: writer, 51%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 1 · Within reach
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
Table 3 · What the job itself asks for
A speechwriter needs 12 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- prepare speeches communication, collaboration and creativity
- write in conversational tone communication, collaboration and creativity
- perform background research on writing subject information skills
- use specific writing techniques communication, collaboration and creativity
- writing techniques arts and humanities
- spelling arts and humanities
- develop creative ideas communication, collaboration and creativity
- consult information sources information skills
- grammar arts and humanities
- apply grammar and spelling rules communication, collaboration and creativity
Table 4 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a speechwriter does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- writer 66% covered · difficulty 33.9
- journalist 56% covered · difficulty 42.8
- presenter 40% covered · difficulty 56.9
- book editor 40% covered · difficulty 57.3
- copy editor 38% covered · difficulty 58.9
- advertising copywriter 34% covered · difficulty 60.7
- script writer 34% covered · difficulty 61.1
- proofreader 32% covered · difficulty 63.5
- subtitler 26% covered · difficulty 68
- fact checker 22% covered · difficulty 70.6
Look up another occupation
Speechwriter is filed under Professionals, ISCO major group 2. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a speechwriter’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.