CONVENTION IS ABOUT TO GET UNDERWAY WITH KAMALA HARRIS, NOW THE FIRST WOMAN OF COLOR TO WIN A MAJOR PARTY’S NOMINATION. EVENTS LIKE THE DNC AND THE RNC ARE A CHANCE FOR ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING POLITICIANS TO SPEAK DIRECTLY TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCE. MY NEXT GUEST EMPHASIZED THAT WHILE IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE DIVERSE LEADERS, IT’S CRUCIAL THAT THE PEOPLE HELPING SHAPE THE NARRATIVE, THE ACTUAL SPEECHWRITERS ALSO NEED TO REPRESENT THE DIVERSITY OF AMERICA. TERRY EDMONDS IS A LONGTIME SPEECHWRITER FOR FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, ALSO MEMBERS OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. MICHAEL FRANKLIN IS THE FOUNDER OF THE ORGANIZATION SPEECHWRITERS OF COLOR. GENTLEMEN, SO NICE TO HAVE YOU IN STUDIO. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US. WHY DOES THE SPEECHWRITERS RACE OR GENDER OR ETHNICITY EVEN MATTER? THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF A SPEECHWRITER IS SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF THE PERSPECTIVE THAT YOU BRING, BECAUSE WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SPEECHWRITERS AND SPEECHWRITING, WE’RE LOOKING TO BRING FOLKS WHO REFLECT THE AUDIENCES THAT YOU’RE TRYING TO REACH. LIKE FOR ME, I’M A BLACK QUEER KID WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN KANSAS CITY, KANSAS. AND LIKE OUTSIDE OF YOUR REGULAR WIZARD OF OZ JOKE, I ALWAYS GET FOLKS WHO ARE JUST LIKE, WOW, I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WERE BLACK PEOPLE IN KANSAS. BUT BEING ABLE TO BRING THAT PERSPECTIVE TO THE LEADERS THAT I SERVE AND WRITE WITH ABOUT WHAT POTENTIAL AUDIENCES LOOK LIKE CAN BUILD A COMPLETE NEW TREK FOR WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR WHEN WE’RE TALKING TO SOMEBODY. SO THEN IS THE GOAL TO SAY THERE ARE POTHOLES OUT THERE? MR. OR MISS CANDIDATE? AND IF YOU GO INTO THE SPEECH NOT REALIZING THAT GAY QUEER PEOPLE FROM MIDDLE AMERICA EXIST, YOU COULD BE TRIPPING OVER YOURSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS IMPORTANT SPEECH. ABSOLUTELY. PRETTY SOON, AMERICA IS GOING TO BE A MAJORITY MINORITY COUNTRY. AND WHEN I STARTED IN SPEECHWRITING IN 1993 WITH BILL CLINTON, THERE WERE NO OTHER REALLY AFRICAN AMERICAN SPEECHWRITERS. AND AT THAT TIME, THE RACE ISSUE WAS REALLY HOT IN AMERICA. AND BILL CLINTON WAS DETERMINED THAT HE WAS GOING TO RESPOND TO IT. AND SO HE NEEDED SOMEONE TO HELP HIM CRAFT MESSAGES THAT SPOKE DIRECTLY TO THE ISSUE AND SPOKE DIRECTLY TO THOSE PEOPLE. BUT IT’S NOT JUST RACE THAT MATTERS. AFRICAN AMERICANS AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE INTERESTED IN EVERY ASPECT OF WHAT’S GOING ON. THE ECONOMY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS, EVERYTHING. SO YOU NEED SPEECHWRITERS WHO CAN CRAFT MESSAGES THAT RESONATE WITH THOSE AUDIENCES. YOU REALLY WERE THE BREAKTHROUGH IN A LOT OF WAYS. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? WELL, IT WAS IT WAS DAUNTING WHEN I FIRST ENTERED THE WHITE HOUSE IN 1995, I WAS SURROUNDED BY YALE AND HARVARD GRADUATES, BUT I HAD A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF AND THE TRAINING THAT I GOT AT HBCU MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY. I WAS PRETTY CONFIDENT IN MY SKILLS, BUT IT WAS THE CULTURAL SORT OF ASSIMILATION THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT DAUNTING. BUT WHAT HELPED MOST WAS THE FACT THAT I HAD A REAL CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PRESIDENT AND HE ALSO I MEAN, HE REALLY CARED ABOUT RACIAL RECONCILIATION AND BUILDING AN ADMINISTRATION THAT LOOKED LIKE AMERICA. MICHAEL, YOU ALSO HBCU BECAUSE YOU WERE AT HOWARD, YOU KNOW, REALLY HOWARD OBVIOUSLY KILLS IT WHEN IT COMES TO DEBATE. WHAT SIMILARITIES HAVE YOU SEEN IN DEBATE AND SPEECHWRITING? I ALWAYS TELL FOLKS THAT, LIKE, DEBATE SHOULD BE THE CLEAR PIPELINE FOR SPEECHWRITERS AND COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONALS. I WAS WRITING SPEECHES FOR MYSELF. I WAS THE PERSON GIVING THE PERFORMANCES, WHETHER IT WAS PERSUASIVE SPEAKING OR INFORMATIVE SPEAKING, AND IT WASN’T UNTIL MY SOPHOMORE YEAR OF COLLEGE WHERE MEMBERS OF HOWARD’S SPEECH AND DEBATE TEAM WERE INVITED TO THE PROFESSIONAL SPEECHWRITERS ASSOCIATION’S MENTORSHIP MIXER AND WHILE THERE, I WAS LIKE, WOW, THIS IS HOW I GO PRO AND DEBATE. BUT ALSO ON TOP OF THAT, IT WAS LIKE, THERE’S NOT FOLKS THAT LOOK LIKE ME IN THIS ROOM, AND FOLKS TOLD ME, OH, I CAN ONLY COUNT ON ONE HAND THE NUMBER OF BLACK SPEECHWRITERS I KNOW. AND I WAS LIKE, GIVEN LIKE, THEY’RE LITERALLY BLACK KIDS AND BROWN KIDS WINNING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS AT EVERY LEVEL THROUGHOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT EVENTS AND SPEECH AND DEBATE AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE GIVING SPEECHES ALL THE TIME. CORRECT. I’M LIKE YOU KNOW, GO AHEAD AND INTRODUCE ME TO THAT ONE HANDFUL, AND I’M SURE I’M GOING TO FIND LIKE TEN TIMES THAT. AND THAT WAS JUST SOME OF THE PRE-WORK BEFORE EVEN GOING INTO SPEECHWRITERS OF COLOR, LET’S SAY A BLACK WOMAN OF INDIAN DESCENT HAPPENS TO RISE TO THE TOP OF A NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTY. AND IS ELECTED SHOULD SHE BE HAVING SPEECHWRITERS WHO ARE LIKE, HEY, THE WHITE GUYS ARE GOING TO WRITE FOR THE WHITE GUYS I’M TALKING TO? AND THE BLACK GUYS ARE GOING TO WRITE FOR THE BLACK PEOPLE I’M TALKING TO, AND THAT YOU’RE BOTH SHAKING YOUR HEAD. NO, VEHEMENTLY. NO. I THINK IT’S NOT ABOUT TRYING TO LIKE SILO THE WAY THAT SPEECHES ARE ORGANIZED. THE BROADER GOAL IN TERMS OF BUILDING NARRATIVE POWER, WHEN YOU’RE WORKING WITH THE PRINCIPAL, IS TELLING THE STORY OF WHO WE ARE AND THE STORY OF WHO WE CAN BE. AND IT’S SO IMPORTANT THAT YOU MIGHT MISS SOMETHING IF YOU’RE TRYING TO TALK TO SOMEONE IN MIDDLE AMERICA VERSUS TALKING TO SOMEONE ON THE COAST, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A DIVERSE TEAM THAT HAVE DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS, DIFFERENT LIVED EXPERIENCES, THEN IT MAKES A FULLER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE MESSAGE THAT IS LIKELIER TO RESONATE WITH MORE FOLKS. TERRY EDMOND