We are thrilled to announce the 2025 LMA Annual Conference Keynote Speakers! Continue reading to meet our three speakers and learn about their sessions happening in Washington, DC!
Crafting Messages That Resonate: Lessons from Presidential Speechwriters on Connecting with Your Audience
Speakers: Cody Keenan and Terry Szuplat
Wednesday, April 23 | 4:30 p.m ET
For eight years, Cody Keenan and Terry Szuplat worked together to craft President Barack Obama’s most powerful speeches for every kind of audience — from State of the Union Addresses to soaring eulogies to stirring championship celebrations (including for Cody’s beloved Chicago Cubs). Since leaving the White House, both have continued to provide speechwriting services to corporate, political, and philanthropic clients, both have become professors of speechwriting — Terry at American University and Cody at Northwestern University — and both have added “bestselling author” to their resumes.
Cody and Terry join LMA25 to kick off the conference with a fireside chat, sharing their behind-the-scenes experiences, the tools they relied on to translate ideas and difficult issues into communications that resonated with broad audiences, and how to manage the pressure of getting it right when the world is paying attention.
Sponored by Litera
Meet Cody Keenan
Cody Keenan wrote alongside President Barack Obama for 14 years, rising from a campaign intern in Chicago to become White House chief speechwriter and Obama’s post-presidential collaborator. He’s been named the “Springsteen” of the Obama White House, even though he can’t play an instrument, and Obama calls him “Hemingway” for reasons that have little to do with his writing style or seasonal beard. Even British GQ once named Cody one of the “35 Coolest Men under 38 (and a Half),” ahead of Ryan Gosling, but behind Tom Hardy. Cody got his start in public service as a young aide to the legendary senator Edward M. Kennedy. He holds a master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. from Northwestern University. His commencement addresses at NYU in 2015 and Northwestern in 2018 were highlighted as some of the year’s best, and in 2020, Northwestern’s graduating class of seniors chose him to deliver their “Last Lecture.” Today, Cody is a partner at leading speechwriting firm Fenway and teaches a popular course on political speechwriting to undergraduates at Northwestern. His first book, GRACE: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America, became an instant New York Times Bestseller. To his wife Kristen’s enduring embarrassment, their White House courtship was documented on CNN. They live in New York City with their young children Grace and Jack.
Meet Terry Szuplat
Terry Szuplat is a sought-after speaker and trainer and the author of the national bestseller Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience in which he shares the public speaking lessons he learned as one of President Barack Obama's longest-serving White House speechwriters. From 2009 to 2017, Terry served as a special assistant to the president and as a member of the National Security Council staff, and from 2013 to 2017 he was the deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office. Today, Terry runs his own speechwriting firm, Global Voices Communications, and he teaches speechwriting at his alma mater, American University's School of Public Affairs. He lives outside Washington, D.C. with his wife Mary and two children, Jack and Claire.
Forward Together: The Human Edge in an Era of Rapid Change
Speaker: Heather McGowan
Thursday, April 24 | 8:30 a.m. ET
In an era of unprecedented societal, cultural, demographic, and technological change, the key to moving forward is tapping into the human potential across all levels of your organization. Drawing from extensive research and real-world examples, this keynote explores how professionals can create meaningful impact despite stretched resources and diffuse leadership structures through listening, building trust, and establishing psychological safety. Humans run on connection and thrive when they are given agency, choice, and voice. In this talk, you will discover practical strategies to cut through the clutter, engage distracted teams, and foster collaboration toward shared goals.
Whether you're managing projects, leading teams, or influencing with limited authority, you'll learn how to ask the right questions and frame each opportunity in a way that allows you to leverage both human ingenuity and technological advances in driving your organization forward.
Learning Outcomes:
- Create clarity from complexity by asking better questions and using simple frameworks that help teams understand both the problem and their role in solving it.
- Build engagement by tapping into what naturally drives people: purpose, autonomy, and the chance to grow.
- Leverage technology strategically by understanding where technology can enhance human capabilities, allowing your team to focus on high-value work.
Sponored by Litera
Meet Heather McGowan
Future-of-work strategist Heather E. McGowan helps leaders prepare their people and organizations for the Post Pandemic world of work. The last few years have forever changed where we work, who works, how we work and measure work, what we do for work and, most importantly, why we work. McGowan is a sense maker, a dot connector, a deep thinker, and a pattern matcher who sees things that others miss. Heather gives people the courage and insight that illuminates their path forward. She’s transforming mindsets and entire organizations around the globe with her message about how the next phase of work will focus on continuous learning, rather than simply learning once in order to work. Pulitzer Prize–winning NYT columnist Thomas Friedman frequently quotes Heather in his books and columns and describes her as “the oasis” when it comes to insights into the future of work. In 2020, Heather was recognized as one of the top 50 female futurists in the world by Forbes. Heather’s sessions help employees and leaders alike prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist.